Environmental stressor effects on creativity and decision making (original) (raw)
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This paper presents the results of my theoretical exploration of the relation between stress and creativity, with focus on their role as aspects of creative labor. My approach combines the efforts of psychology, dynamical systems approach (cognitive science) and neuroscience to understand the phenomena. I integrate Sternberg’s three-facet model of creativity (2006) and Zimbardo- Gerrig’s model of stress (2004) in order to provide a more elaborated model, taking into consideration situation, type of stressor, and type of person involved. Multiple other aspects, such as arousal, motivation, resource theory, appraisal and coping, attribution of emotions to success and failure will be discussed in relation to the topic. They will also serve as categories in the analysis of consistencies and discontinuities in the current research on stress and creativity.
2010
Competing theoretical models and equivocal evidence leave unanswered questions regarding stressors' effect on creativity. The present meta-analysis of 76 experimental studies (including 82 independent samples) aims to clarify this association and identify factors that may explain differences between studies. Our results suggest that the effect of stressors on creative performance depends on how stress-inducing the stressor is and what type of stress is induced. We found a curvilinear relationship between evaluative stress and creativity such that low evaluative contexts increased creative performance over control conditions, whereas highly evaluative contexts decreased creative performance. We found a linearly negative relationship between uncontrollability and creativity such that more uncontrollability decreased creative performance. The results suggest that stressors' effect on creativity is more complex than previously assumed and points to the need for understanding boundary conditions that shed light on inconsistent findings.
Stressors and creativity in Industrial Design practice
Conference Proceedings of the Academy for Design Innovation Management
Current literature suggests that stress influences creativity, however further research is required concerning this relationship with a focus on education. Current views are clearlydivided on whether any negative effects on creativity are more dictated by environmental stressors or the reactions of individuals whilst under stress. For this study, participantscompleted a questionnaire comprising of a perceived stress scale and thematic questions, to give an indication of whether they were more influenced by environmental stressors ortheir individual reactions to stress. Two Torrance tests of creativity were conducted to assess creativity over a two-week period as time pressures increased. The resultssuggested that participants who identified as being more affected by their own negative reactions to stress displayed a lower calibre of creativity when time-pressure increased,whereas the participants who were suggested to be more influenced by their environment remained at a relatively ...
Does stress induction affect cognitive performance or avoidance of cognitive effort
2023
Previous research has shown that acute psychosocial stress impairs cognitive abilities, but recent studies suggest that this may be due to a decrease in willingness to engage in cognitive effort rather than a direct effect on performance. The aim of the present study was to replicate this last research and verify the influence of acute stress on avoidance of cognitive effort and cognitive performance. Fifty young, healthy individuals (26 females, 24 males) aged between 18 and 40 years were randomly assigned to two groups: a stress condition and a control condition. We used a Demand Selection Task paradigm (DST), in which participants chose between performing tasks that required either high or low cognitive effort. Stress was induced through the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and measured with both subjective and psychophysiological measurements. The results indicated that acute stress significantly increased participants' preference for less demanding behaviors, while no significant alterations in cognitive performance in task change activities were found. This study offers new perspectives on how stress affects behavior and decision-making in everyday life.
Neuropsychopharmacological regulation of performance on creativity-related tasks
Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 2019
A number of factors affect performance on tasks associated with creativity. Two pharmacological systems in particularly been identified as important for their impact on creativity, the noradrenergic system and the dopaminergic systems. Furthermore, stress is also established as an important factor impacting performance, most likely mediated by its effects on these neurotransmitter systems. Herein, we review the current literature on the relationships between stress, the noradrenergic system, the dopaminergic system, and other pharmacological factors and their effects on performance on tasks associated with creativity.
The Effect of Induced Stress on Decision Making
The purpose of the study is to determine if participants induced with stress would have a higher tendency for making disadvantageous decisions compared to those not induced with stress. The sample consisted of 40 students, 6 males and 34 females, of Saint Mary’s University who were randomly gathered and assigned into the experimental and control groups. Stress was induced by informing the experimental group that they had to speak in front of a crowd. Stress was measured through the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (STAI-AD). The results obtained showed no significant difference between the respondent’s group and their decision making skills. Though, there was a statistical difference between the stress levels of the participants and their tendency to make advantageous and disadvantageous decisions. Age and sex were also tested with decision making but no significant difference was found. The results also indicated that the longer the participants played the Iowa Gambling Task which measured decision making, the less advantageous the decisions they made. This study pointed out that stress levels have significant differences in terms of decision making and the longer one plays the IGT, the more disadvantageous decisions they make. Keywords: Induced stress, stress, anxiety, decision making, Iowa Gambling Task, STAI, STAI-AD, State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults
Stress, Cognition, and Human Performance: A Literature Review and Conceptual Framework
NASA/TM—2004–212824, 2004
The following literature review addresses the effects of various stressors on cognition. While attempting to be as inclusive as possible, the review focuses its examination on the relationships between cognitive appraisal, attention, memory, and stress as they relate to information processing and human performance. The review begins with an overview of constructs and theoretical perspectives followed by an examination of effects across attention, memory, perceptual-motor functions, judgment and decision making, putative stressors such as workload, thermals, noise, and fatigue and closes with a discussion of moderating variables and related topics. In summation of the review, a conceptual framework for cognitive process under stress has been assembled. As one might imagine, the research literature that addresses stress, theories governing its effects on human performance, and experimental evidence that supports these notions is large and diverse. In attempting to organize and synthesize this body of work, I was guided by several earlier efforts (Bourne & Yaroush, 2003; Driskell, Mullen, Johnson, Hughes, & Batchelor, 1992; Driskell & Salas, 1996; Haridcock & Desmond, 2001; Stokes & Kite, 1994). These authors should be credited with accomplishing the monumental task of providing focused reviews in this area and their collective efforts laid the foundation for this present review. Similarly, the format of this review has been designed in accordance with these previous exemplars. However, each of these previous efforts either simply reported general findings, without sufficient experimental illustration, or narrowed their scope of investigation to the extent that the breadth of such findings remained hidden from the reader. Moreover, none of these examinations yielded an architecture that adequately describes or explains the inter-relations between information processing elements under stress conditions.
Scientific Reports
Noise is often considered a distractor; however recent studies suggest that sub-attentive individuals or individuals diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can benefit from white noise to enhance their cognitive performance. Research regarding the effect of white noise on neurotypical adults presents mixed results, thus the implications of white noise on the neurotypical population remain unclear. Thus, this study investigates the effect of 2 white noise conditions, white noise level at 45 dB and white noise level at 65 dB, on the cognitive performance, creativity, and stress levels of neurotypical young adults in a private office space. These conditions are compared to a baseline condition where participants are exposed to the office ambient noise. Our findings showed that the white noise level at 45 dB resulted in better cognitive performance in terms of sustained attention, accuracy, and speed of performance as well as enhanced creativity and lower stress levels....
Evidence that Threatening Situations Enhance Creativity
We tested the hypothesis that threatening situations enhance creativity. 60 participants viewed a series of photographs and rated them on level of threat. They then wrote two short stories: one based on the photograph they rated as most threatening, and the other based on the photograph they rated as least threatening. The stories were rated for level of creativity. Paired samples t-testså revealed that stories based on threatening pictures produced a higher degree of creativity than those based on non-threatening pictures. Theoretical frameworks consistent with these findings are discussed.