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Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
Published on: July 19, 2017
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Investigating links between creativity anxiety, creative performance, and state-level anxiety and effort during
Richard J Daker1, Indre V Viskontas2, Grace F Porter3
1Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., USA. rjd107@georgetown.edu.
Scientific Reports
|October 10, 2023
Summary
Creativity anxiety, a fear of creative thinking, can hinder creative achievement. This study shows it impacts performance and increases anxiety during tasks, though it can be overcome.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Creativity Research
Background:
- Creativity is vital for personal and professional growth.
- Creativity anxiety, specific to creative thinking, is a potential barrier to creative achievement.
- Proximal impacts of creativity anxiety on cognitive performance are unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate how creativity anxiety affects creative cognitive performance.
- Examine the relationship between creativity anxiety, state anxiety, and effort during creative tasks.
- Understand factors influencing creative achievement.
Main Methods:
- Measured creativity anxiety, creative performance, state anxiety, and effort.
- Utilized various creative performance tasks.
- Surveyed participants during creative task completion.
Main Results:
- Creativity anxiety predicted poorer creative performance on some tasks.
- Creativity anxiety was associated with increased state anxiety and effort.
- State anxiety and effort did not mediate the link between creativity anxiety and performance.
Conclusions:
- Creativity anxiety can be overcome during creative task performance.
- Increased state anxiety and effort may destabilize creative performance in demanding situations.
- Further research is needed to understand real-world creative achievement.
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