Negative mood constrains creative thinking in the native but not in the second language

Abstract

Previous research suggests that creativity may be facilitated by a positive mood and inhibited by a negative mood. Likewise, speaking a second language (L2) has been shown to benefit creative performance. However, little is known about a possible interactive effect of mood and bilingualism on creative thinking. This question becomes more interesting in light of accumulating evidence that bilinguals experience emotional distancing in their second (L2) language compared to their first (L1) language, especially when exposed to negative emotional content. This raises the question of whether bilinguals experience reduced interference from a negative mood when generating ideas in L2 relative to L1, potentially creating conditions conducive to creative thinking. To address this question, Polish–English bilinguals were induced with a positive or negative mood through exposure to classical music excerpts and were asked to generate alternative uses for 12 everyday objects in L1 and L2. Our results show increased idea creativity in L2 compared to L1 when bilinguals were in a negative mood. This result was accompanied by decreased arousal ratings in a negative compared to positive mood in L2 but not in L1. In contrast with idea creativity, participants generated more ideas in L1 than in L2 and in a positive mood than in a negative mood. Together, we provide novel evidence for reduced effects of a negative mood on creative performance in L2 compared to L1, likely enhancing the creative potential of bilinguals when operating in L2.