An unexpected benefit of anger has been named. It is connected with creativity
Until now, it was believed that anger is a negative emotion. However, scientists have come to the conclusion that this is not entirely true.
Their study found that anger can enhance creativity.
But the fact is that such strengthening is most clearly expressed in cases where the imagination is working “at full speed” against the background of the desire to implement this or that destructive idea at any cost.
The researchers came to this conclusion after studying data presented in 23 scientific papers (2,413 people participated in the studies).
The results showed a weak but still positive relationship between anger and creative productivity.
In particular, it turned out that, on average, those who experienced anger were slightly better at solving creative problems.
True, the intensity of this connection was determined by several factors.
For example, it was found that the effect of anger on creativity was more pronounced in East Asian countries.
In Western countries, such a connection was virtually absent.
Moreover, it was more pronounced in new studies than in old ones.
It also turned out that anger most enhanced harmful creativity – the creation of ideas and solutions to cause harm or circumvent aesthetic norms.
The researchers also found that anger had the greatest impact on creativity in tasks that involved imagination.
The scientists point out that their work focused only on the primary emotional state of anger, without taking into account secondary emotions such as aggression and hostility.
