Katarzyna Galasinska, Michal Olszanowski, Aleksandra Tolopilo, Natalia Frankowska, Gniewomir Jachlewski, Aleksandra Szymkow
{"title":"Creative Potential Peaks During Ovulation: A By-Product of Physiological Arousal","authors":"Katarzyna Galasinska, Michal Olszanowski, Aleksandra Tolopilo, Natalia Frankowska, Gniewomir Jachlewski, Aleksandra Szymkow","doi":"10.1002/jocb.70117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70117","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Recent studies suggest that women's divergent thinking, an indicator of creative potential, peaks during ovulation, potentially as a signal to attract mates. However, given that arousal is a key factor facilitating creative cognition, this increase may be a by-product of general heightened arousal during ovulation. This hypothesis has not been fully explored, as most research relies on self-reported measures of arousal, which is a significant limitation. Thus, the role of arousal in linking ovulation to divergent thinking remains unclear. To address this question, we conducted an intraindividual study measuring electrodermal activity (EDA) as a physiological indicator of arousal. Women of reproductive age (<i>N</i> = 69) participated in four sessions involving divergent thinking tasks across different phases of their menstrual cycle. Results indicate that electrodermal reactivity mediates the relationship between menstrual cycle phases and the originality of ideas. Additionally, reducing arousal through relaxation during ovulation decreased idea originality. These findings support the hypothesis that increased state-dependent creative potential during ovulation may be a by-product of heightened arousal.</p>","PeriodicalId":39915,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Creative Behavior","volume":"60 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jocb.70117","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148173796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Remembering the Stages, Forgetting the Person: Who Really Was Graham Wallas?","authors":"Kyung Hee Kim","doi":"10.1002/jocb.70123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70123","url":null,"abstract":"<p>One hundred years after the publication of <i>The Art of Thought</i> (1926), Graham Wallas remains widely cited yet poorly understood. His stages of preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification continue to circulate as a foundational model of creativity, even as the life that gave rise to them has largely faded from view. This article argues that this disconnect reflects a deeper problem in creativity research: the tendency to separate ideas from the lives that sustain them. Drawing on Wallas's writings and contemporaneous accounts, the article reconstructs him as a person shaped by moral seriousness, disciplined effort, intellectual independence, and a sustained commitment to education and social reform. His stages are reinterpreted not as a detachable schema, but as one expression of an ethical orientation toward thought grounded in judgment, responsibility, humane insight, and endurance. The article concludes by asking what is lost when creativity is treated as a model rather than a way of living with ideas.</p>","PeriodicalId":39915,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Creative Behavior","volume":"60 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jocb.70123","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148167109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Remembering the Stages, Forgetting the Person: Who Really Was Graham Wallas?","authors":"Kyung Hee Kim","doi":"10.1002/jocb.70123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70123","url":null,"abstract":"<p>One hundred years after the publication of <i>The Art of Thought</i> (1926), Graham Wallas remains widely cited yet poorly understood. His stages of preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification continue to circulate as a foundational model of creativity, even as the life that gave rise to them has largely faded from view. This article argues that this disconnect reflects a deeper problem in creativity research: the tendency to separate ideas from the lives that sustain them. Drawing on Wallas's writings and contemporaneous accounts, the article reconstructs him as a person shaped by moral seriousness, disciplined effort, intellectual independence, and a sustained commitment to education and social reform. His stages are reinterpreted not as a detachable schema, but as one expression of an ethical orientation toward thought grounded in judgment, responsibility, humane insight, and endurance. The article concludes by asking what is lost when creativity is treated as a model rather than a way of living with ideas.</p>","PeriodicalId":39915,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Creative Behavior","volume":"60 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jocb.70123","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148167115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rejoinder to Atroszko & Luszuk (2025) “Work Addiction and Creativity: Balanced View and Benefits of Workaholism”","authors":"Saima Naseer, Dave Bouckenooghe","doi":"10.1002/jocb.70118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70118","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We thank Atroszko and Luszuk for engaging with our article “The silver lining of workaholism: its impact on employees' creativity and presenteeism”, which discusses the mechanisms and boundary conditions through which workaholism relates to employee creativity and presenteeism. We value commentary and rejoinders as an important part of cumulative science—particularly in domains such as workaholism where definitions, underlying mechanisms, and practical implications remain actively debated. In that spirit, we offer several clarifications where we believe the commentary misreads our intent and overextends a primarily pathological interpretation of workaholism. At a high level, our study does not “promote” workaholism. Rather, consistent with calls in the literature to avoid rigid “good versus bad” classifications, we model a more balanced empirical account: workaholism can be associated with creativity under certain processes/conditions, while simultaneously carrying costs (e.g., presenteeism). Below, we respond to the major issues raised in the commentary.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":39915,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Creative Behavior","volume":"60 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148174699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rejoinder to Atroszko & Luszuk (2025) “Work Addiction and Creativity: Balanced View and Benefits of Workaholism”","authors":"Saima Naseer, Dave Bouckenooghe","doi":"10.1002/jocb.70118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70118","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We thank Atroszko and Luszuk for engaging with our article “The silver lining of workaholism: its impact on employees' creativity and presenteeism”, which discusses the mechanisms and boundary conditions through which workaholism relates to employee creativity and presenteeism. We value commentary and rejoinders as an important part of cumulative science—particularly in domains such as workaholism where definitions, underlying mechanisms, and practical implications remain actively debated. In that spirit, we offer several clarifications where we believe the commentary misreads our intent and overextends a primarily pathological interpretation of workaholism. At a high level, our study does not “promote” workaholism. Rather, consistent with calls in the literature to avoid rigid “good versus bad” classifications, we model a more balanced empirical account: workaholism can be associated with creativity under certain processes/conditions, while simultaneously carrying costs (e.g., presenteeism). Below, we respond to the major issues raised in the commentary.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":39915,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Creative Behavior","volume":"60 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148174625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}