Positive Emotions’ Influence on Attitude Toward Change, Creative Thinking and Their Relationship with Irrational Thinking in Romanian Adolescents

Abstract

The purposes of the present study were: (1) to explore whether or not the positivity ratio (the ratio between positive and negative emotions) can predict irrational thinking and (2) to investigate the influence of positive emotions on creative thinking and adolescents’ attitudes concerning change. The research sample consisted of 93 adolescents. The results indicate that the positivity ratio predicts only the global evaluation of personal values, but not the other dimensions of irrational thinking. Positive emotions determine better results with regard to the three dimensions of creative thinking: fluency, flexibility and originality than those obtained in the neutral condition. There weren’t significant differences between negative and positive emotions with regard to the creative thinking test. Also, the valence of induced emotions influenced dispositional attitudes toward change. Specifically, people who received positive emotions manipulation showed less resistance to change than negative and neutral groups. The implications of these findings for fostering change in psychotherapy are discussed.