On the Generalizability of the Bodily State Effect on Creativity

Abstract

Previous studies found that bodily states have an impact on divergent thinking, but it remains to be seen how generalizable this effect could be, how exactly it depends on cognitive control, and whether similar effects can be found on convergent thinking. To address these questions, we examined the bodily state effect on divergent thinking, convergent thinking, and cognitive control in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants performed the Alternate Uses Task, the Remote Associates Task, and an auditory Stroop task under one of the three bodily states: sitting, standing, or roaming. In Experiment 2, participants completed the three tasks while standing and while roaming. Results showed that bodily state had no significant effect on divergent thinking and the Stroop effect, while roaming shorten the reaction times (Experiment 1) and increased accuracy (Experiment 2) comparing with sitting or standing in the convergent thinking task. Bayesian analysis provided strong or moderately strong evidence for the null hypothesis for these effects. Taken together, the present experiments showed no stable bodily state effect on divergent thinking or convergent thinking and Stroop effect. Possible explanations for the discrepancy between the current results and those reported in previous studies were discussed. ARTICLE HISTORY Received August 24, 2022