A Positive Role of Negative Mood on Creativity: The Opportunity in the Crisis of the COVID-19 Epidemic

Frontiers in Psychology

Chunyu Liu¹  Ying Du¹  Yadan Li¹  Cong Xie¹  Xuewei Wang¹  Weiping Hu²  Yilong Yang³ 

[1] Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China;Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China;Shaanxi Normal University Branch, Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment Toward Basic Education Quality at Beijing Normal University, Xi’an, China;Research Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Xi’an International Studies University, Xi’an, China;School of English Studies, Xi’an International Studies University, Xi’an, China;

关键词: negative mood;    self-focused attention;    cognitive creativity;    emotional creativity;    COVID-19;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.600837

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The COVID-19 epidemic is associated with negative mood, which has the potential to be a powerful driver of creativity. However, the influence of negative mood on cognitive creativity and emotional creativity remains elusive. Previous research has indicated that self-focused attention is likely to be related to both negative mood and creativity. The current study introduced two self-focused attention variables (i.e., rumination, reflection) to explore how negative mood might contribute to cognitive creativity and emotional creativity. Based on a sample of 351 participants, our study found that (1) negative mood during the outbreak of COVID-19 was associated with cognitive creativity and emotional creativity. Meanwhile, there were significant serial mediation effects of rumination and reflection in the relationship between negative mood and creativity and (2) the psychological impact after exposure to the COVID-19 epidemic was positively correlated with emotional creativity but not with cognitive creativity. These results suggested that individuals, in real life and work, could achieve better creative performance through moderate self-focus. Moreover, individuals with different mood states can be induced to enhance their creativity in times of crisis through intervention training to promote reflection.

【 授权许可】

CC BY