Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation
Abstract
Background: One form of meditation intervention, the integrative body-mind training (IBMT) has been shown to improve attention, reduce stress and change self-reports of mood. In this paper we examine whether short-term IBMT can improve performance related to creativity and determine the role that mood may play in such improvement.
Methods: Forty Chinese undergraduates were randomly assigned to short-term IBMT group or a relaxation training (RT) control group. Mood and creativity performance were assessed by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) questionnaire respectively. Results: As predicted, the results indicated that short-term (30 min per day for 7 days) IBMT improved creativity performance on the divergent thinking task, and yielded better emotional regulation than RT. In addition, cross-lagged analysis indicated that both positive and negative affect may influence creativity in IBMT group (not RT group). Conclusions: Our results suggested that emotion-related creativity-promoting mechanism may be attributed to short-term meditation.
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Xiaoqian Ding is with the Institute of Neuroinformatics and Laboratory for Body and Mind, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China -- Yi-Yuan Tang is with the Department of Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA -- Yi-Yuan Tang and Michael I. Posner are with the Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA -- Rongxiang Tang is with the Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78705, USA
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