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10 - When good is bad and bad is good: mood, bipolarity, and creativity

from Part III - Creativity and the spectrum of mental illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2014

By
Geir Kaufmann  and
Astrid Kaufmann
Edited by
James C. Kaufman
Geir Kaufmann
Affiliation:
University of Bergen
Astrid Kaufmann
Affiliation:
University of Bergen
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
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Summary

The meeting of affect and cognition

Arguably, one of the most significant new developments in psychological research during the last 30 years is the exploration of the interface between affect and cognition (see De Houwer and Hermans, 2010; Lewis et al., 2008; Power and Dalgleish, 2008). A new perspective on the interface between emotion and cognition is emerging, in which the emphasis is on the interwoven and internal rather than the conceptually external relations between the two (e.g., Damasio, 1994). Another major emphasis has been on the constructive roles that affect can play in cognitive functions as opposed to previous conceptions, where affect was rather one-sidedly seen as detrimental to rational and effective thought (Forgas, 1995, 2008).

The meeting of affect and creativity

In the same period we have also witnessed a significant rise in research on creativity, seen as a scientifically respectable and empirically tractable phenomenon (e.g., Hennessey and Amabile, 2010; Kaufman and Sternberg, 2010). It is to be expected that these two new streams of research on affect and creativity, respectively, would interface. This has indeed happened, and we can now look back on a 25-year-long roster of research on the relationship between mood and creativity (Baas et al., 2008; Rank and Frese, 2008).

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Creativity and Mental Illness , pp. 205 - 235
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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