What emotions promote creativity

Psychologist Eddie Harmon-Jones (Eddie Harmon-Jones) and his colleagues conducted a study to find out what emotions contribute to creativity. It turns out it's not so much emotions as motivation in their effectiveness.

Creative individuals and scientists say about creativity as a sudden inspiration. Einstein, describing how it came to the idea of ​​the theory of relativity, said it was the happiest moment in his life. The writer Virginia Woolf was more original:

It is strange how the power of creativity can lead at one point in the whole world in order.

Is creativity is accompanied by happiness? And if not, what emotions to affect her?

This issue for seven years given by psychologist Eddie Harmon-Jones and his colleagues. They concluded that creativity does not affect emotional color (positive and negative emotions), and motivational efficiency (a term coined by researchers), that is, how emotion affects the desire work. For example, fun - positive emotion, but it has a low efficiency motivational. But the desire - a positive emotion with a high motivational efficiency.

Prove the relevance of the theory succeeded in using research. Participants were divided into two groups. First showed video with funny cats (motivational low efficiency), the second - video attractively looking desserts (motivational high efficiency).

Despite the fact that both groups experienced positive emotions more creatively to solve problems later came the second group of participants.

The same applies to video, causing negative emotions. Sadness (low efficiency motivational) prevented focus, aversion (high efficiency motivational) - vice versa.

The researchers concluded that the effectiveness of a motivational promotes creativity than the emotion itself. This is due to the fact that emotions are low efficiency motivational force to pursue new goals, and high - to help focus on the current target.