One area of creativity research receiving much attention is how to evoke creativity.
I have made a list of activities (updated with new information) believed to provoke creativity. Here is a new one:
Awe enhances creativity.
Researchers found that awe affects fundamental creative thinking components, namely fluency (how many ideas are thought up), flexibility (how varied are the ideas), and elaboration (how detailed are the ideas).
Awe is that intense feeling of being overwhelmed by reverence, admiration, and even fear, caused by a grand, sublime, and powerful experience (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/awe?s=t).
What evokes awe is intensely personal. Examples include the experience of being with God or being one with the universe, the birth of a baby, an unexpectedly magnificent view, watching the stars through a powerful telescope, or being in the presence of someone venerated (such as Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu, or the Dalai Lama).
Researchers speculate that awe challenges and expands the mind. People often feel their world view is enlarged by the experience. In this frame of mind, it is easier to process new information and to find original connections among ideas, objects, and concepts. That is, think creatively.
The experience of awe is complex, and not easy to evoke in a research laboratory. In this study, scientists used virtual reality (VR) to evoke acute emotions in half the participants. The rest of the participants viewed an ordinary scene, not intended to evoke awe.
Then, the participants' creativity was tested using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT).
Participants who underwent the awe-inducing experience showed noticeably enhanced levels of creativity, compared with control groups.
How valid are these findings? Ideally, this study should be replicated (redone successfully with similar results), and with more participants.
Meanwhile, I'll add awe to the list of creativity enhancers, with the caveat that the finding is tentative, and needs to be repeated.
Source
Chirico, A., Glaveanu, V. P., Cipresso, P., Riva, G., & Gaggioli, A. (2018). Awe enhances creative thinking: an experimental study. Creativity Research Journal, 30(2), 123–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2018.1446491
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