Verbal Divergent Thinking Facilitated by a Pleasurable Incubation Interval

Previous studies have uncovered various influencing factors of the incubation effect in creative problem solving. Often, tests of divergent thinking (DT) are used as estimates of the potential for creative problem solving. The impact of emotional state during the incubation interval on subsequent creative performance has not yet been investigated. A within-subject design was used in this study. Participants (N = 44) were asked to solve the instances problems (i.e., a verbal DT task) in four conditions (positive, neutral, negative incubation conditions, and a continuous working condition). During the incubation intervals, participants watched a series of emotion-appropriate videos to induce corresponding emotions. The results showed that participants' originality scores were higher after an incubation interval (regardless of the emotions induced) than when continuously working. Originality scores were the highest when positive emotion was induced during the incubation interval. These findings demonstrated that emotional state during the incubation interval influences the incubation effect. The findings are interpreted in the context of the unconscious work theory of incubation. Limitations and future directions are explored.