New research has found that individuals' overall contentment is more influential than personality when it comes to people’s desire to be creative.
Researchers from the University of Georgia's Mary Frances Early College of Education studied daily diaries from over 100 college students. They found that students who reported feeling more content were more likely to experience the desire to be creative.
For this study, creativity was defined as any activity that is new and useful without recognition needed from society - activities like playing music, writing, or drawing. Students who reported feeling positive emotions and a sense of independence were more inclined to be creative on the days they reported those feelings and the following days.
Interestingly, feelings of sadness, anger, or overall intelligence did not decrease creative output. Researchers of the study said that you can’t always control your emotions, but you can create a space that supports your emotions and autonomy in order to have more creative motivation.
