Approaching novel thoughts: Understanding why elation and boredom promote associative thought more than distress and relaxation

Gasper, Karen; Middlewood, Brianna

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2013.12.007

Cited by 80 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…For example, in past research we found that behavior (Gasper & Middlewood, 2014;Mann & Cadman, 2014). In that sense, a prosocial outcome of boredom is not an isolated case of meaning-regulation in response to boredom, and in the presence of alternatives prosocial responses may or may not be the dominant response.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 77%

Can boredom help? Increased prosocial intentions in response to boredom

Tilburg

Igou

2016

Self and Identity

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Boredom is typically regarded a nuisance. Past research on boredom depicts this common emotion as a correlate of many detrimental psychological and social factors, including addiction, depression, discrimination, and aggression. We present a more nuanced perspective on boredom. Specifically, we propose and test that state boredom serves an important self-regulatory function with the potential to foster positive interpersonal consequences: It signals a lack of purpose in activity and fosters a search for meaningful engagement. We examined whether boredom can subsequently cause prosocial intentions if the corresponding prosocial behavior is seen as purposeful. As predicted, boredom, which is characterized by a search for meaning (Pilot Study), promoted prosocial intentions (Experiment 1), in particular when the corresponding behavior was seen as highly meaningful (Experiment 2). Our novel findings suggest that boredom can have desirable consequences, and recasts this emotion as not merely good or bad but rather as personally and socially functional.

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Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 77%

Can boredom help? Increased prosocial intentions in response to boredom

Tilburg

Igou

2016

Self and Identity

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“…3 This may reflect the fact that the effect of control deprivation on approach is specific to certain measures. Indeed, other research that has found manipulations that increase approach on cognitive measures (e.g., associative thought) do not always increase approach on perceptual measures (e.g., line bisection tasks; Gasper & Middlewood, 2014). Future research that continues to investigate the effects of loss of control on indirect indicators of approach will help to elucidate this point.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Loss of control stimulates approach motivation

Greenaway

Storrs

Philipp

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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“…Breaks without distraction or entertainment occur naturally during train rides, meetings or the like, but vanish if we can be constantly engaged, preventing (actual or anticipated) boredom. At the same time, several studies suggest that despite its negative connotation, boredom may provide fertile grounds for innovation (Gasper and Middlewood 2014). This suggests that perhaps many great ideas are now never conceived due to a scarcity of empty time.…”

Section: Make Empty Timementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Creativity may generally be boosted during moments of mind wandering (Baird et al 2012). However, a bit of boredom could be conducive to novelty as it has the extra effect of stimulating exploration as a way of getting rid of this somewhat unpleasant state (Gasper and Middlewood 2014). In times of digital technologies, it may require slightly more effort than before to disconnect, but it is likely worth it.…”

Section: Make Empty Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching originality? Common habits behind creative production in science and arts

Scheffer¹,

Baas²,

Bjordam³

2017

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Originality is a prerequisite for world-changing science and arts alike, but it cannot be taught. Or can it? Here, we show that a set of habits that are-surprisingly-shared among successful artists and scientists may catalyze creative output. We reveal three groups of such habits, each corresponding to a cluster of personality traits, shown to be shared by creative artists and scientists. The first habit group "embrace the unexpected" corresponds to the character trait "openness to new experiences" and encompasses tendencies to go ahead without a plan, collect diverse experiences, and take risks. The second group "create conditions for creation" links to the personality trait "autonomous" and encompasses simple habits such as making empty time and carrying a notebook. The third class of habits "break away from dogma" links to the shared personality trait "norm doubting" and stands for a strong drive to escape from established systems and also occasionally destroy part of one's own work to break tunnel vision and start anew. Although personality traits are hard to change, the habits we found hint at techniques or skills that may be taught.

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Approaching novel thoughts: Understanding why elation and boredom promote associative thought more than distress and relaxation

Cited by 80 publications

References 41 publications

Can boredom help? Increased prosocial intentions in response to boredom

Can boredom help? Increased prosocial intentions in response to boredom

Loss of control stimulates approach motivation

Teaching originality? Common habits behind creative production in science and arts

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