Bollimbala Ashish, James P S
School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Kamand, Himachal Pradesh, 175005, India.
School of Management, DC School of Management and Technology, Vagamon, Kerala, India.
Psychol Res. 2024 Mar;88(2):684-694. doi: 10.1007/s00426-023-01862-4. Epub 2023 Aug 10.
There is growing evidence to suggest that physical activity positively influences cognitive processes. A similar trend is seen in the literature examining the relationship between acute physical activity and creativity. Nevertheless, certain questions persist: Does engaging in physical activity over an extended period (chronic) influence creativity? If it does, what is the duration of this impact? The present study uses Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) to examine whether chronic physical activity for 6 weeks can improve individual creativity vis-à-vis a control group that performs regular class activity without any physical activity. It also assesses whether the effect of chronic physical activity on creativity endures after 2 weeks of ceasing the interventions. The study involves 49 school students who were randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control conditions. Their creativity, operationalized as divergent thinking is measured using the Alternate Uses Task. The measurements are taken before the intervention, again 6 weeks later, and once more, after 2 weeks of cessation of interventions. The results indicate that after 6 weeks of engaging in physical activity, the participants showed improvements in both the fluency and originality components of divergent thinking when compared to the control group. Furthermore, the results demonstrate a lingering effect of physical activity on the originality component of divergent thinking. The findings lend some support to the strength model of self-control. The implications for research and practice are further discussed in the study.
越来越多的证据表明，体育活动对认知过程有积极影响。在研究急性体育活动与创造力之间关系的文献中也出现了类似的趋势。然而，某些问题仍然存在：长期（慢性）进行体育活动是否会影响创造力？如果会，这种影响的持续时间是多久？本研究采用随机对照试验（RCT）来检验，相较于进行常规课堂活动而无任何体育活动的对照组，持续6周的慢性体育活动是否能提高个体的创造力。研究还评估了在停止干预2周后，慢性体育活动对创造力的影响是否依然存在。该研究涉及49名在校学生，他们被随机分配到实验组或对照组。使用替代用途任务来测量他们的创造力，将其定义为发散性思维。在干预前、6周后以及停止干预2周后分别进行测量。结果表明，与对照组相比，参与体育活动6周后，参与者在发散性思维的流畅性和独创性方面均有提高。此外，结果还表明体育活动对发散性思维的独创性方面存在持续影响。这些发现为自我控制的强度模型提供了一些支持。研究中还进一步讨论了该研究对研究和实践的启示。
