Creativity is prized by many, and involves an individual generating ideas that are novel, surprising and compelling(1). Positive connections to creativity have been shown on multiple dimensions of psychological well-being(3). Together, creativity and well-being can generate a kind of “creativity circuit” that we can use to improve both our personal and professional lives. This creativity circuit can work in an individual or small group setting, and even on a larger, societal scale. The literature on creativity and positive psychology can show us how these two concepts interconnect and interact in a positive way. This article examines a wide array of research about the relationship between creativity and well-being and answers three questions: How can creativity enhance well-being?; How can well-being enhance creativity?; and How do creativity and well-being function as a circuit?

The first question is:  How can creativity enhance well-being? 

Multiple studies(4) confirm that creativity is associated with positive emotion and well-being. Engagement in everyday creative activities is connected to being happy and energized(5), and a positive mood can go hand-in-hand with creative thinking(6). Even small acts of creativity may have an effect on overall well-being rather than simply making us feel good in the moment(4). People often feel higher levels of positive emotion on the days following creative activity (4). In fact, creative work today can predict improvements in well-being tomorrow(6). Creativity can even promote self-esteem and personal growth, all while enhancing overall sense of well-being(18, 19). 

Moreover, there are numerous reports showing that creativity can boost one’s capacity to adapt and cope(7) and encouraging creative activities can work like an intervention for improving well-being(9). Runco(2) explicitly states that creativity is closely linked to adaptability, indicators of success, health, learning, and personal growth and thus to human flourishing. The many benefits of living more creatively include a lifestyle of balance and harmony, as well as coping with adversity(8). This holds true for all ages, including young adults(4). 

Creativity has been shown to increase not just sense of purpose, personal growth, and achievement, but also openness to relationships(10). Engaging in creative activity and even observing creative work have been connected to enhancing self-confidence and self-acceptance(11), and engagement with artistic activities, or even observing them, can enhance moods, emotions, and other psychological factors(12). Creativity can also improve well-being in the workplace. When employees believe their workplace is more creative, they can experience greater enthusiasm(13).

Focusing on the factor of meaning, Scott Barry Kaufman(14) has found that creative cognition is connected to “meaning making.” Barron also perceived a strong relationship between creativity and meaning. For instance, making music in a group improves not just a sense of meaning, but also positive emotions, engagement, relationships, and accomplishment(15). Group songwriting among older adult retirees promoted “a life of happiness, meaningfulness and engagement”(16).   Additionally, participation in artistic activity can promote well-being and reduce stress(17). In short, the arts can “stir joy in us”(20).

It has been found that creative thinking is associated not only with physical health, but also psychological health(23). In fact, music therapy can create increased well-being and relaxation, as well as decreased tension(22). Creativity also fosters individual traits that are related to flexibility(24), and engaging in creative activities is considered a way of promoting social networks. By increasing relaxation and self-expression, creative activities can generate a healing and protective effect on mental well-being (25). Creativity can also contribute to a more positively functioning society. Thus, social investment in creativity is important to advancing society by way of innovation and invention(7), as well as improving motivation, attitude, and affect. Engaging in creative activity can lead not just to better health but also to psychological freedom(26). On a broader scale, the minister Sandra Chantry said, “All who are creative, in whatever way, are doing something very important to the well-being of the world.”

The second question is: How can well-being enhance creativity? 

Positive emotion can have three-way effects on creativity: facilitating the decision to be creative, directing the choice of domains, and even influencing the frequency of creative behavior(27).  Creativity is also closely linked with self-regulation, which can provide the mental discipline necessary to foster creativity. 

In addition, positive feelings can improve cognitive functioning and divergent thinking(31). High-levels of positive mood is directly and significantly associated with innovative behavior(32). Even shifting from a negative to a positive mood can be a predictor of creativity(28) and, in turn, those positive emotions can directly facilitate creativity(29) because they can positively affect the generation of ideas(30)(33)(34). Mood states with a positive tone of relaxation can further promote creative performance(37). This can even boost morale in work settings by cultivating a sense of happiness and accomplishment, which correlates with improved performance and leads to higher levels of creativity and fluency(35)(36). Baas stated that, “Of all moods, happiness and cheerfulness are the most robust facilitators of creativity”(37).

Certain mood states can spur original insights and ideas due to enhanced mental flexibility, while others do so through increased cognitive persistence and enhance creative problem solving in a variety of settings (39). People in a positive mood can generate richer associations(34). Positive mood states have also been shown to trigger greater creative responses(40)(41)(42). These moods are activating and signal satisfactory and safe conditions(33). This can increase people’s willingness to explore novel possibilities and integrate different perspectives during problem-solving(33). Happy moods can increase the generation of ideas(37). Feeling positive involves thoughts that are more flexible, unusual, creative and inclusive by enlarging cognitive context (an effect recently linked to increases in brain dopamine levels(38).

This brings us to the final question: How do creativity and well-being function in a circuit with one another? 

Creativity and well-being both anticipate and derive from one another. Thus, according to Ivcevic et al., “the creativity-mood relationship is bidirectional; emotions are both predictors of creative behavior and creative behavior affects creators’ emotional states”(43).

An example of a creativity circuit is Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of how flow and creativity are highly intertwined. Flow is usually reported when a person is doing their favorite activity and is completely focused(44). Creative flow is a sense of optimal experience and is very fulfilling. Spending more time in flow is related to being happier with life(45). Flow both comes from positive emotions and leads to ideal creative states, so it can give a sense of reward. Further, working intensely on a creative project can generate a positive experience and creative accomplishment, which then leads to flow, generating positive feelings of satisfaction and pride. Positive activating moods such as these can both increase cognitive flexibility and lead individuals back to the deep engagement found in flow. Thus, we can view our work, feeling pleased both with the experience and with the results(44), cultivating a sense of greater happiness and accomplishment, as well as improved performance. 

Furthermore, people with certain positive personality traits such as persistence and curiosity are more likely to perform creative activities based on the positive factor of intrinsic motivation. The most important among the cognitive personality traits connected to creative thought and behavior is “openness to experience,” or a disposition “to explore, be curious and enjoy novel experiences.” Positive feedback and encouragement definitely spur creativity, and motivation plays a crucial role in the mood-creativity link(37).  Emotions fuel creativity. Divergent thinking tasks can increase positive mood and also positive affect can enhance creativity. Positive feelings can thus result from creativity(47). The initial positive mood can generate more enjoyable experiences(46) and vice versa.

In a sense, you can view creativity as a muscle that needs constant practice to grow and remain strong. That stronger muscle can potentially bring about further creativity. There is certainly  a connection between positive emotion and creativity, and interestingly it’s unclear whether one causes the other or they exist in a kind of virtuous circle (6)(4)(48). This fits the concept of a creative circuit, in which creativity both fosters and reflects psychological health(49). We can even feel increased joy from sharing our own joy or good news, such as showing off our creative work(50).  

In my own work in music, theater, and fiction, I have mastered my own personal creativity circuit, which is fostered by my pleasure and joy in creative work, yielding higher level creative results and generating, in turn, more positive attitudes toward my work. This is exemplified by frequent states of deep concentration, including flow, and ongoing satisfaction with the favorable outcome. Recently, in completing my novel, I celebrated each stage of finalizing it with listening to my favorite music, which, in turn, brought about pleasure in further pursuing the excellence which I aim for. 

It seems clear that creativity increases well-being and that well-being, in turn, increases creativity. There is definitely a kind of circuitry involved in their inner workings, indeed, a creative circuit.  We should take advantage of that and, in turn, try to generate our own creative circuits, which could then be extended to a group level, or even to society as a whole.

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Georgia Shreve is a noted fiction writer, playwright, poet, and multimedia composer. She holds degrees from Stanford, Brown, Columbia, and The University of Pennsylvania. Her poetry and fiction have been published in magazines such as the New Yorker, New Republic, and New Criterion, and her short story, The Countess of M-, won the Stanford Magazine Fiction award. Her plays and musicals have received numerous readings and workshops across New York and her classical compositions have been performed eight times at New York’s prestigious Carnegie Hall. The New York Times praised her “expansive, psychologically pointed setting” of T.S. Eliot’s Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and her Rock Opera, Lovesick, premiered at National Sawdust in the Fall of 2018. On October 10th, 2021, two of her oratorios, Lavinia and Anna Komnene, will premiere at Alice Tully Hall in a program that centers around strong women of antiquity. For further information, please visit www.georgiashreve.com or contact gshreve@ideationmedia.com.