Abstract
Divergent thinking is an essential aspect of creativity and has been shown to be affected both by music and physical exercise. While it has been shown that making music and physical exercise can be beneficial for Divergent Thinking in isolation, it is unclear whether the effects can be combined. The present experiment investigated the relation of physical exertion and being in control of music on Divergent Thinking and the possibility of an interaction effect. Seventy-seven predominantly young, German participants were tested with measurements of Divergent Thinking collected after either (1) physical exercise with music listening, (2) making music with a knob setup without physical effort (music control only), or (3) making physical exercise with musical feedback (Jymmin™). Results showed greater increases in Divergent Thinking scores following music-feedback exercise compared to conditions of physical exercise with music listening and music control only. The data thus demonstrate that making music part of a physical exercise routine more strongly leads to the benefit of increased creative capacities, which we argue will be beneficial for athletes to prepare for certain types of competition/performance and as part of regeneration training.
Highlights
Mental blocks to creativity are often a challenge for workers in the creative industries
Multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni correction revealed a significant difference between the music-feedback exercise group (M = 5.77, SD = 6.37) and the two conditions of physical exercise with music listening (M = -−0.20, SD = 7.83; p = 0.00) and music control only (M = −0.85, SD = 6.73; p = 0.01)
No significant difference was found between physical exercise with music listening and music control only
Summary
Mental blocks to creativity are often a challenge for workers in the creative industries. It has been argued that, for example, expectations of external judgment would lead to an increase in scrutiny of ideas, leading to rejection before the idea is allowed to reach full fruition, leading to a net decrease in creativity (Amabile, 1979). The movie depiction of overcoming such a mental block often involves the use of intoxicating substances. Healthier approaches involve physical exercise (Oppezzo and Schwartz, 2014) and making music (Gibson et al, 2009). A wealth of literature highlights a number of benefits of combining exercise with music (we point curious readers to the excellent summary by Karageorghis, 2017, for a thorough review). How combining exercise and music to increase creativity is still poorly understood
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
