Emotions and the Creative Process; Anxiety, Boredom, and Enjoyment as Predictors of Creative Writing

Abstract

Psychological research has shown that emotions and emotional arousal affect problem solving and other aspects of cognition. This article investigates the relationship between emotional states and the process of creation. High school students working on a major term paper reported their emotional states at four points in time. Analyses consider the relationship between these self-reported emotional states and qualities of the final paper as judged by the teacher and an independent rater. Boredom during work on the paper was found to be negatively correlated with the quality of the final product; enjoyment was positively correlated with the final outcome; and no relationship was found for anxiety. Regression analysis indicated that boredom but not enjoyment predicted the quality of students' work independently of other variables such as students' GPA's. These results indicate that emotional states are interrelated with creativity in this kind of task, but suggest that only boredom has a causal relationship with the quality of the final outcome.