Abstract Previous work has shown that positive mood may facilitate creative problem solving. However, studies have also shown positive mood may be detrimental to creative thinking under conditions favoring an optimizing strategy for solution. It is argued herein that the opposite effect is observed under conditions promoting loose processing and satisficing problem-solving strategies. The effects of positive and negative mood on divergent-thinking performance were examined in a quasi-experimental design. The sample comprised 188 arts and psychology students. Mood was measured with an adjective checklist prior to task performance. Real-life divergent-thinking tasks scored for fluency were used as the dependent variables. Results showed natural positive mood to facilitate significantly task performance and negative mood to inhibit it. The re was no effect of arousal. The results suggest that per sons in elevated moods may prefer satisficing strategies, which would lead to a higher number of proposed solutions. Persons in a negative mood may choose optimizing strategies and be more concerned with the quality of their ideas, which is detrimental to performance on this kind of task.

Suzanne K. Vosburg

Creativity Research Journal

Creativity Research Journal publishes high-quality, scholarly research capturing the full range of approaches to the study of creativity--behavioral, clinical, cognitive, crosscultural, developmental, educational, genetic, organizational, psychoanalytic, psychometrics, and social. Interdisciplinary research is also published, as is research within specific domains (e.g., art, science) and research on critical issues (e.g., aesthetics, genius, imagery, imagination, incubation, insight, intuition, metaphor, play, problem finding and solving). Integrative literature reviews and theoretical pieces that appreciate empirical work are extremely welcome, but purely speculative articles are not published. Readers are encouraged to send commentaries, comments, and evaluative book reviews.

The Creativity Research Journal publishes high-quality scholarly research that captures a wide range of approaches to the study of creativity, including behavioral, clinical, cognitive, cross-cultural, developmental, educational, genetic, organizational, psychoanalytic, psychometric, and social perspectives. Interdisciplinary research is also welcomed, along with studies within specific domains (e.g., art, science) and research addressing critical issues (e.g., aesthetics, genius, imagery, imagination, incubation, insight, intuition, metaphor, play, problem finding, and solving). Integrative literature reviews and theoretical pieces that appreciate empirical work are highly encouraged, but purely speculative articles are not accepted. Readers are invited to submit commentaries, comments, and evaluative book reviews.

《Creativity Research Journal》致力于发表高质量的学术研究，涵盖对创造力研究的多种方法，包括行为、临床、认知、跨文化、发展、教育、遗传、组织、精神分析、心理测量和社会等领域。期刊也欢迎跨学科研究，以及特定领域（如艺术、科学）的研究和关于关键问题（如美学、天才、意象、想象、孵化、洞察、直觉、隐喻、游戏、问题发现与解决）的研究。我们非常欢迎整合性的文献综述和重视实证工作的理论文章，但不接受纯粹的推测性文章。鼓励读者提交评论、意见和评估性书评。

Category	Quartile
心理学	3
心理学, 心理学综合	3
心理学, 心理学教育	4

The Effects of Positive and Negative Mood on Divergent-Thinking Performance

ivySCI AI Smartly Parses PDF, Answers Researchers' Questions, and Helps You Understand Papers in Seconds

Journal Info

Category	Quartile
PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY	2