The (Dis)Pleasures of Creativity: Spontaneous Eye Blink Rate during Divergent and Convergent Thinking Depends on Individual Differences in Positive and Negative Affect
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Previous research has demonstrated that individual differences in affect and motivation predict divergent and convergent thinking performance, two thinking processes involved in creative idea generation. Individual differences in affect and motivation also predict spontaneous eye blink rate ( sEBR ) during divergent and convergent thinking; and sEBR predicts divergent and convergent thinking performance. This study investigates experimentally whether the relationship between sEBR and divergent and convergent thinking depends on individual differences in affect and motivation. Eighty‐two participants completed the Emotion/motivation‐related Divergent and Convergent thinking styles Scale ( EDICOS ; G. Soroa et al., 2015), performed the alternative uses task ( AUT ; divergent thinking) or the remote associates task ( RAT ; convergent thinking), while their sEBR was captured with an eye‐tracker. The results showed that individual differences in positive affect positively correlated with sEBR for the AUT , whereas individual differences in negative affect positively correlated with sEBR for the RAT . Furthermore, the interaction between individual differences in positive and negative affect and sEBR predicted divergent and convergent thinking performance. The contribution of our study is therefore that individual differences in positive and negative affect can both positively correlate with sEBR during divergent and convergent thinking; and that this predicts divergent and convergent thinking performance.
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The contribution of motivational and affective factors on human performance cannot be ruled out.
“In addition, the contribution of motivational27 and affective28 factors on human performance cannot be ruled out”
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Best humans still outperform artificial intelligence in a creative divergent thinking task
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- Authors
- de Rooij, A., & Vromans, R. D.
- Affiliations
- Tilburg University
- Tilburg University (NL)
- ORCID
- Vromans, Ruben D.
- Venue
- The Journal of Creative Behavior
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2018-09-27
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 436-452
- ISSN
- 0022-0175 (ISSN-L)
- 2162-6057
- OpenAlex
- W2893837894
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 9 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 1.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Journal of Creative Behavior (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Research portal (Tilburg University) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Cognitive Science and Education Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychological and Educational Research Studies
- Keywords
- divergent thinking, convergent thinking, positive affect, negative affect, individual differences, creativity, motivation, alternative uses task, remote associates task, eye tracking
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