Creative Processes and Emotions in Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The objective was to analyse, from the perspective of the participants, creative processes developed in isolation and social distancing by COVID-19 pandemic. The main interest was to study transformations in daily, family and work life, focusing on the creation of new practices and projects. Likewise, it was relevant to study emotions, obstacles and difficulties perceived by the participants. The study was qualitative, the participants (N = 25) were selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling. All the participants lived in intermediate or small towns in Argentina. Data collection was carried out in September, 2020. Semi-structured interviews and online qualitative research were the data collection instruments. The Atlas.ti 8 program was used for the qualitative analysis of textual and audio-visual data. The results indicated significant modifications in the lives of the participants from isolation and distancing. These changes demand flexibility and adaptability as well as creative processes for generating alternatives and solving problems. In the context of the home, transformations of times, spaces and relationships were observed. Work and leisure activities also were reconfigured. Sadness appeared as the predominant emotion. However, some participants experienced enthusiasm and joy for the new projects. The purpose of this study was to build knowledge that contributes to the design of health promotion project.

Emotions and Resilience in Saudi Women’s Digital Entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…This is demonstrated in broadening the entrepreneurs' thoughts to experiment with new recipes, learn new skills, and foster individual resilience to start a new business despite their previous negative business experience (Participant 1) or to innovate in different ways to keep their business going (Participant 3). Furthermore, these findings are also in accordance with previous studies that reported that people during lockdown were creating novel and creative activities at home [78]. Among the creative activities mentioned were: experimenting with new recipes; growing vegetables; taking care of children and devising games; rearranging the schedule and space at home; inventing new forms of remote work, fostering practices of solidarity; building exercise equipment; and coming up with new school activities for the children [77].…”

“…According to these participants, viewing the COVID-19 pandemic through a positive lens allowed them to focus more on self-improvement and creativity by staying at home and away from external noise and disruptions. The aforementioned findings are consistent with other research demonstrating how having positive emotions during the isolating pandemic lockdown enabled individuals to realize their latent creativity [78,79]. Participant 5 was very proud of her name and the success of her business, a new positive emotion.…”

“…The discovery of novel solutions to everyday problems, the examination of prospective alternatives in the face of constraints, and the development of original items (e.g., recipes, gardens, arrangements, physical activities, games) are all examples of creative processes [77]. Research has also found that creative activities fostered individuals' resilience during the pandemic and triggered positive emotions [78]. Similarly, in France, a study found that individuals with lower baseline creativity before the lockdown may have utilized this situation as an opportunity to be more creative in their personal life, perhaps as a reaction to the unpleasant experiences that followed lockdown measures [79].…”

Cambios en los comportamientos creativos antes y durante la pandemia. Un estudio de contraste con un grupo de adultos argentinos

“…En concordancia con estudios anteriores (Elisondo, 2021(Elisondo, , 2022Elisondo y Melgar, 2021;Karwowski et al, 2021), se observó que cocinar fue la actividad mencionada por la mayoría de los participantes cuando se les consultó en relación a acciones creativas Los análisis indicaron menores niveles de estrés en padres con mejores autopercepciones creativas y con estrategias de afrontamiento positivas. Los resultados del estudio de Lades et al (2020) también indicaron que pasar tiempo con los niños contribuyó al bienestar emocional de los padres durante el confinamiento.…”

“…En la investigación realizada en abril de 2020, los análisis mostraron emociones positivas vinculadas a la ejecución de actividades creativas durante el confinamiento (Elisondo y Melgar, 2021). Los resultados del estudio llevado a cabo en septiembre de 2020 indican emociones positivas asociadas al desarrollo de nuevos emprendimientos y la consolidación de hábitos saludables y sustentables (Elisondo, 2021(Elisondo, , 2022. En una línea argumentativa similar, Tang et al…”