TY  - JOUR
A1  - Haase, Jennifer
A1  - Hanel, Paul H. P.
T1  - Priming creativity: Doing math reduces creativity and happiness whereas playing short online games enhance them
JF  - Frontiers in Education
N2  - Creative thinking is an indispensable cognitive skill that is becoming increasingly important. In the present research, we tested the impact of games on creativity and emotions in a between-subject online experiment with four conditions (N = 658). (1) participants played a simple puzzle game that allowed many solutions (priming divergent thinking); (2) participants played a short game that required one fitting solution (priming convergent thinking); (3) participants performed mental arithmetic; (4) passive control condition. Results show that divergent and convergent creativity were higher after playing games and lower after mental arithmetic. Positive emotions did not function as a mediator, even though they were also heightened after playing the games and lower after mental arithmetic. However, contrary to previous research, we found no direct effect of emotions, creative self-efficacy, and growth- vs. fixed on creative performance. We discuss practical implications for digital learning and application settings.
KW  - creativity
KW  - priming
KW  - enhancement
KW  - math
KW  - games
KW  - happiness
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.976459
SN  - 2504-284X
PB  - Frontiers
CY  - Lausanne, Schweiz
ER  -