Developmental Investigation of Positive Mood Effects on Cognitive Flexibility and Its Relationship to Creativity

Background and Aim: Positive mood is among the main factors that affect creativity, but the underlying process of this effect is yet unclear. Considering the role of cognitive flexibility as a predictor of creativity, it is hypothesized that positive mood increases cognitive flexibility, which leads to increment in creativity. Besides, developmental process may also affect the relation Methods: Sixty students in two age groups of ۸-۱۰ and ۱۰-۱۲ years old were randomly assigned to positive and neutral mood induction groups, where mood induction was done using two different video presentations. Both groups were then assessed using the computerized version of Wisconsin Card Sorting and the Torrance Creative Thinking tests. Results: In this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the probable role of cognitive flexibility and age as mediators of mood-creativity relation in ۸-۱۲ years old children. Conclusion: We found higher cognitive flexibility and creativity due to positive mood induction, but only in ۸ to ۱۰ years old group. Regression model analysis also confirmed the mediating role of cognitive flexibility between mood and creativity, whereas positive mood improves individuals' cognitive flexibility and thereby improves performance in creativity test. This study emphasizes the indirect relationship between positive mood and creativity, where cognitive flexibility is the key mental factor that mediates the relationship. Besides, we showed that mood-creativity relation is variant among different age groups and would be better explored in the context of developmental stages.

کلیدواژه ها:

Cognitive Flexibility ، Creativity ، Positive Mood ، developmental stages