Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation

• Published in: Behavioral and brain functions Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 9
• Main Authors: Ding, Xiaoqian, Tang, Yi-Yuan, Tang, Rongxiang, Posner, Michael I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 19.03.2014; BioMed Central Ltd
• Subjects: Affect; Attention; Creativity; Female; Humans; Male; Meditation; Meditation - psychology; Relaxation - psychology; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Traditional Chinese medicine; Variance analysis; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1744-9081; 1744-9081
• DOI: 10.1186/1744-9081-10-9

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. 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. 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). Our results suggested that emotion-related creativity-promoting mechanism may be attributed to short-term meditation.