THE EFFECT OF CREATIVITY ON CORTISOL SAMPLING WITH MOOD STATES

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between creativity, stress, and mood. It was hypothesized that those with higher creativity would exhibit decreased cortisol activation given that any stressors present are not significantly valanced by emotion. Specifically, participants in the negative mood condition with lower levels of creativity would experience increased cortisol activation; those in the positive mood condition with high levels of creativity would experience decreased cortisol activation; and those in the neutral mood condition would have minimal cortisol activation. Participants took part in a multiphase study consisting of an overnight study visit where multiple personality and emotional state variables were collected to examine which facets are important in predicting optimal performance. One hundred and twenty participants completed personality questionnaires and cortisol sampling within the study. Participants were randomly assigned to receive positive, negative, or neutral mood inductions throughout the study. Results demonstrated that creativity had no significant effect on individual cortisol levels at baseline nor throughout the study visit. A small sample size, the state of the participants before taking part in the stress test, and the indirect measurements of creativity and mood conditions all posed as limitations in the present study. Future research should utilize a similar study design but include more participants, mood induction with a greater degree of negative and positive conditions, and a uniform participant state.