Abstract
The goal of this study was to examine the role of positive mood on generative and evaluative thinking in creative problem solving. Participants included 89 middle school students who watched either a positive or neutral mood video program. After students watched the video, they completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) scale to determine their current mood. Participants were then divided into three groups and given a divergent thinking task to complete. Group A was asked to generate potential solutions to a problem (generative thinking). Group B was given one solution to the problem that had been offered by participants’ peers in a previous pilot study and then asked to generate possible advantages to this particular solution (evaluative thinking). Group C was given the potential solution but asked to generate potential disadvantages (also evaluative thinking). Students in the positive mood condition were significantly more fluent than those who watched the neutral video. Students in the neutral mood condition generated more disadvantages than advantages, but this difference was significant only at p < .10. Implications and limitations of these results were discussed.
Highlights
Background and PurposeCreativity and creative problem solving (CPS) is an important educational goal with a long and substantial research history (Fasco, 2000-2001; Strom & Strom, 2002; Treffinger, Schoonover, & Selby, 2013; Treffinger, Solomon, & Woythal, 2012)
Would the effects be the same? Or, would positive or neutral moods affect generative and evaluative thinking in different ways? The mood literature suggested that a positive mood would result in more ideas being generated (Fredrickson, 2001; Isen et al, 1987)
The creative problem-solving literature clearly argues for the avoidance of negative attitudes and negative, judgmental, evaluative comments during idea generation stages (Guilford, 1962; Isaksen, Dorval, & Treffinger, 2000; Osborn, 1966; Sternberg & Lubart, 1996)
Summary
Creativity and creative problem solving (CPS) is an important educational goal with a long and substantial research history (Fasco, 2000-2001; Strom & Strom, 2002; Treffinger, Schoonover, & Selby, 2013; Treffinger, Solomon, & Woythal, 2012). What is known about creativity and CPS is that it is a complex phenomenon, involving skills of both idea generation and evaluation (Lubart, 2001; Mumford et al, 2012; Treffinger, Isaksen, & Stead-Dorval, 2006). Participants who were in a positive or happy mood processed the material less systematically, took less care, and made more errors than did participants in a neutral or negative mood One reason for these different findings may be the fact that researchers have more often examined only the generation of solution possibilities—fluency or divergent thinking. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of positive mood on both generative and evaluative thinking in the creative problemsolving process
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