Being Creative Makes You Happier: The Positive Effect of Creativity on Subjective Well-Being

Cher-Yi Tan, Chun-Qian Chuah, Shwu-Ting Lee and Chee-Seng Tan
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Cher-Yi Tan: Department of Psychology and Counselling, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Kampar 31900, Perak, D. R., Malaysia
Chun-Qian Chuah: Department of Psychology and Counselling, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Kampar 31900, Perak, D. R., Malaysia
Shwu-Ting Lee: Department of Psychology and Counselling, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Kampar 31900, Perak, D. R., Malaysia
Chee-Seng Tan: Department of Psychology and Counselling, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Kampar 31900, Perak, D. R., Malaysia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: The impact of happiness on creativity is well-established. However, little is known about the effect of creativity on well-being. Two studies were thus conducted to examine the impact of creativity on subjective well-being. In the first study, 256 undergraduate students (Study 1a) and 291 working adults (Study 1b) self-reported their creativity, stress, and subjective well-being. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed a positive relationship between creativity and subjective well-being after controlling the effect of self-perceived stress and demographics in both samples. Study 2 then employed an experimental design to examine the causal relationship between creativity and subjective well-being. Half of the 68 undergraduates underwent a creativity priming task followed by a divergent thinking test as well as self-reported stress and subjective well-being. The priming task was found to boost creative performance in the pilot study (Study 2a) and the actual study (Study 2b). Moreover, after controlling the effect of self-perceived stress, ANCOVA analysis showed that participants receiving the priming reported higher subjective well-being scores than their counterparts in the control group. The overall findings not only shed light on the facilitative effect of creativity on subjective well-being but also highlight the necessity of considering the reciprocal relationship of the two constructs in future research.

Keywords: creativity; employees; experiment; priming; subjective well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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