Of Night and Light and the Half-Light: The Role of Multidimensions of Emotion and Tolerance of Uncertainty in Creative Flow

Cseh, Genevieve M. (2022) Of Night and Light and the Half-Light: The Role of Multidimensions of Emotion and Tolerance of Uncertainty in Creative Flow. In: International Handbook of Creative Cognition. Routledge. (Submitted)

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Abstract

There is a long and convoluted history of psychologists trying to understand the relationship between emotion/affect and creativity, mostly centred on a rather limited focus on ‘positive’ versus ‘negative’ affect, which has yielded confusing results. Similarly, the relationship between emotion and a peak state of intense absorption often experienced during (and often claimed as a motivator for) the creative process – flow – is also unclear. Both creativity and flow are paradoxical and ambiguous phenomena, including in their relation to emotional antecedents, subjective experience, and outcomes. This review explores dimensions of emotion beyond the positive-negative divide, the complexity and dialectics of emotion as potentially mixed and contradictory and argues that this is related closely to the ambiguity and uncertainty inherent in creativity and flow. It is proposed that certain categories of emotions – self-related, time-related, and epistemic – are especially important emotional groupings in these contexts. How regulation of these emotions and attitudes toward ambiguity and uncertainty are handled may play significant roles in enabling creative flow.

Item Type:	Book Section
Keywords:	affect, emotional complexity, tolerance of ambiguity, uncertainty, emotion regulation, creativity, flow
Depositing User:	Ms Genevieve Cseh
Date Deposited:	25 Apr 2022 11:03
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2022 11:03
URI:	https://bnu.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18503

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