How Music Helps Us Be More Creative
A new study suggests that listening to happy music promotes more
divergent thinking—a key element of creativity.
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In today’s world, creative thinking is needed
more than ever. Not only do many businesses seek creative minds to fill their
ranks, but the kinds of complex social problems we face could also use a good
dose of creativity.
Luckily, creativity is not reserved for
artists and geniuses alone. Modern science suggests that we all have the
cognitive capacity to come up with original ideas—something researchers call
“divergent thinking.” And we can all select from a series of ideas the one most
likely to be successful, which researchers call “convergent thinking.”
Though we may not all be equally accomplished
at these kinds of thinking, we can all become more skillful in creative
problem-solving—whether the problems we face involve figuring out technological
challenges at work or the next steps to take in creating a new painting. The
question is how.
One new study explores
music as a source of creativity. Since music has been shown to improve cognition and enhance learning and memory in
other studies, it makes sense that perhaps it has an impact on creative
thinking, too.
In the experiment, participants tried
creativity exercises that measured divergent or convergent thinking while being
exposed to either silence (the control scenario) or classical music that evoked
four distinct emotional states: happy, calm, sad, or anxious.
After comparing participant performance on
divergent and convergent thinking in the five scenarios, the researchers found
that participants who’d listened to happy music had significantly higher scores
on divergent thinking than those who’d performed in silence. In other words,
they came up with more total ideas, and more creative and innovative ideas (as
rated by people who were unfamiliar with the study’s aim). The other types of
music did not have this impact.
“The results suggest that listening to happy
music increases performance on overall divergent thinking,” write the authors,
suggesting that it enhances the cognitive flexibility needed to come up with
innovative solutions—the ability to switch between different concepts and
perspectives, rather than seeing the problem from a rigid point of view.
Interestingly, whether or not the
participants “liked” the music had no impact on their performance, suggesting
that the benefits don’t come from simply enjoying music. And none of the types
of music had an impact on convergent thinking, which requires coming up with a
right answer rather than opening your mind to many potential ideas.
“The increase in divergent but not convergent
thinking after listening to happy music may be explained by the fact that the
convergent tasks rely less on fluency and flexibility, but on finding one
correct answer,” write the authors.
It may also have to do with the mood created
by the happy music. After all, happiness is considered to be a positive emotion
that, according to researcher Barbara Fredrickson, broadens our
mindset and enhances our desire to explore and play. Though the researchers
didn’t actually analyze mood changes, research suggests a link between positive mood and creativity,
suggesting that this may be the underlying mechanism behind the benefits of
happy music.
Whatever the case, the results suggest that
people may want to listen to happy music while they work—particularly if they
need to come up with new ways of looking at a particular problem. As the
authors conclude, “music listening may be useful to promote creative thinking
in inexpensive and efficient ways in various scientific, educational, and
organizational settings when creative thinking is needed.”
BY JILL SUTTIE |
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_music_helps_us_be_more_creative?utm_source=Greater+Good+Science+Center&utm_campaign=bba69fa778-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_11_22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5ae73e326e-bba69fa778-51482775
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