When confronted with a creative problem what can be done to encourage the creative process?
A connection between mood and creativity
Psychologist, Adam Anderson, explored the connection between mood and thought processes by inducing a positive, negative or neutral mood in 24 study participants. Specific moods were induced by playing specially selected pieces of music to subjects. After each piece of music, participants were given two tasks to complete, the tasks focused on creativity and concentration.
In one example of a creative task, used by Anderson, participants were asked to think of a word that links the following set of words:
Mower, Atomic, Foreign
Participants were asked to think beyond words commonly associated with the above words, words like “lawn,” “bomb” and “currency”. Instead, participants were encouraged to think creatively to solve the puzzle and reach the less obvious answer of “power.”
Looking through a porthole or choosing a panoramic view
Anderson found that participants in a happy mood were much better at completing the creative task. Anderson explains, “With positive mood, you actually get more access to things you would normally ignore …instead of looking through a porthole, you have a landscape or panoramic view of the world.” Others have likened the effect mood has on thought to a powerful torch beam; a negative mood creates a narrow, sharply focused beam, whereas a positive mood creates a broad, far reaching, wide beam.
In another test, Anderson monitored participants brain activity whilst showing them a picture of a person’s face with a house in the background, such as the picture below.
Participants were asked to establish whether the face in the picture was that of a male or female and told to focus solely on the face. Anderson wanted to establish which areas of the brain would be active when participants looked at the picture, the area that showed focus on the house or the area of the brain that revealed focus on the face.
Anderson discovered that when a positive emotion was induced, the focus was on the house. Even though participants were instructed to only focus on the face, a positive emotion compelled them to take in the bigger picture. When participants were placed in a negative mood, they paid no attention to the house, focusing firmly on the face.
Weapon focus
How a negative mood impacts the way we process information is clearly illustrated by the well known phenomenon of “weapon focus.” The phrase describes the concentrated focus of someone who is experiencing negative emotions. The term “weapon focus” originates from the behaviour of those held at gunpoint, when fear and anxiety is extreme, individuals are often able to describe the gun in detail but unable to describe the person holding the weapon when questioned after the event.
5 tips to boost creativity by promoting a positive mood
1. Create a positivity soundtrack. Anderson selected specific music to induce positive or negative moods. Use this technique to your advantage by creating your own positivity soundtrack.
2. Collect positive quotes. When you find yourself inspired, motivated and energised by the words of others, make a note of them. Place your favourite quotes where you can see them often and replace or add new quotes regularly as this can stimulate our creative senses more than looking at the same words each day.
3. Focus on pictures that make you happy. For some of us, pictures ebonite and make our passions soar. Make sure that your favourite pictures, that prompt happy feelings, are prominently places.
4. Compile a list of happy activities. When you need to get creative, it can be helpful to have a list of activities to hand that you already know will put you in a positive mood. You might want to divide the list into quick activities and those that require more time. Activities often noted for inducing positive emotions are spending time in nature, going for a run or watching a comedy.
5. Spend time with others. Socialising with friends who have a wide range of interests can both broaden our perspective and induce a positive, creative mood. Regularly build time into your schedule to spend time with friends that leave you feeling inspired or develop new connections that broaden your outlook.
Like some more tips to develop creativity? Watch Julie Burstein & Kurt Anderson sharing how creativity works.
