Relationship Between Creativity And Happiness

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The Relationship between Creativity and Happiness Numerous studies on the role of positive affect and creativity have shown that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains. Different types of positive affect stimulate different domains of creative cognitive processes. Scholars have identified the important role positive affect plays in creativity suggesting that happiness-creativity relationship exists because positive affect promotes creativity and facilitates problem solving skills (Green & Terry, 1988). Several studies indicated that positive affect is associated with greater cognitive flexibility and improved creative problem solving skills across a broad range of settings (Isen, 1997). Russ (1999) suggested that cognitive processes were interrelated with creativity, positive affect and personality. Tversky and Gati (1978) found that positive affect facilitates ‘cognitive flexibility’ for example people who are experiencing positive affect, compared to those in a negative or neutral state, show a heightened ability to make connections among ideas and see varying relations among elements. Together these studies have shown that positive affect increases a person’s ability to organize ideas in numerous ways and access alternative cognitive perspectives. These experimental findings are consistent with research that demonstrates the relationship between positive effect, and creativity in adults. Findings also suggest that negative affect has opposite affects on creative cognitive processing. Gasper (2004) indicated that negative moods restrict creativity and inhibit an individual from generating new ideas. Recent research by Pannell and Claxton (2008) looked at ‘creative ideation’ one area of creativity which is the ability to cognitively generate multiple creative ideas. The survey study conducted is a replication of Pannels and Claxtons

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