Studies reveal how people’s creativity evolved during the first COVID-19 blockade

Covid-19 surprised us. The exceptional situation of the first blockade required great adaptability, especially for our brain.

Studies conducted at the Paris Brain Institute (Inserm / CNRS / Sorbonne University / AP-HP) show how our creativity evolved during this period and the factors that may have influenced it. Revealed. Thus, despite the blockade, our creativity has increased and we have focused primarily on activities related to situational issues.

Creativity is one of the cognitive functions that allows us to be flexible in new environments and find solutions in new situations. The unusual situation of the first Covid-19 pandemic containment forced us to rethink our habits, impose new constraints and adapt … in short, to be creative.

A group of Frontlab researchers at the Paris Brain Institute conducted an online survey to assess the impact of blockages on creativity using a two-part survey. The first part is the situation where participants found themselves in March-April 2020 (Are you trapped alone or with others? More work or free time than before? Did you have?), Which consisted of questions aimed at understanding their mental state at the time. (Did you get more motivated?

Did you feel a decrease or increase in mood or stress? And finally, did they feel more creative than before? In the second part, participants were asked about the creative activities that took place during their captivity, their frequency, their territory, their degree of success and valuation, and why they motivated or hindered these activities. I asked. Researchers have collected about 400 analyzable responses.

Emphasized but more creative

“Our first observations, as other studies have shown, were that the blockade was psychologically painful for the majority of participants, but on average they felt more creative.” The study’s co-lead author, Theophile Bees (AP-HP), says. “By correlating the two pieces of information, we have shown that people feel better and more creative.”

In contrast, when researchers asked about the number of disabilities encountered by respondents, they observed a non-linear relationship. Participants felt they encountered many obstacles, whether their creativity changes were positive or negative. Indeed, many people encounter obstacles in their daily activities and are forced to be creative to achieve them, and conversely, they face too many problems to be creative and feel uncreativity. There were also people.

More creative activities related to situational issues

The second part of the questionnaire consists of a list of 30 different activities, most of which are part of the international standards used in creativity research (Inventory creation activities and results). These included cooking, painting, sewing, gardening, decoration and music. Participants were asked if they had engaged in these activities in the last five years, if their practices increased during the blockade, why and how often, and if not, why they decreased.

This section of the questionnaire sought to more objectively measure quantitative and qualitative changes in creative behavior, but the first part was based on subjective reporting of the situation. Our results show that this measure of creative behavior is consistent with the measure of subjective change reported by the subject.In both cases, the observed changes were associated with free time and emotional emotions... “

Emmanuelle Volle (Inserm), Study Last Author, Paris Brain Institute

The five activities that increased the most during the blockade were cooking, sports, dance programs, self-help initiatives, and gardening. On average, of the 28 activities surveyed, including interior design, sewing, creation, object diversion, etc., about 40% of the activities already practiced in the five years prior to imprisonment increased practice. ..

Positive correlation between mood and creativity

The results of this study underscore the overall increase in creativity during the initial blockade. This positive change may be related to having more free time, feeling more motivated, needing to solve problems, or needing to adapt to new situations. However, when negative changes in creativity were experienced, they were associated with negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, pressure, and lack of material resources and opportunities.

There is considerable debate about the correlation between positive mood and creativity. “There is some evidence in the scientific literature that you need to feel better to be creative, but other evidence shows the opposite, and in which direction this process goes. Is unknown. Does being creative make us happy? ”Alizée Lopez-Persem (Inserm), co-lead author of this study, concludes: