It turns out anger can boost creative performance
Anger is an intense emotion caused in response to threats or frustration, and is accompanied by physiological arousal such as increased heart rate and tension. Many people may think that anger is bad because uncontrollable anger can lead to deterioration of interpersonal relationships and stress, but a new study has found that anger is associated with improved creative performance.
The relationship between anger and creative performance: a three-level meta-analysis: Cognition and Emotion: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access
Anger might enhance creative performance
https://www.psypost.org/anger-might-enhance-creative-performance/
There have been several studies on anger and creativity, but the results have been mixed. So a Chinese research team conducted a meta-analysis to integrate and analyze the results of multiple studies to get a more detailed understanding of the relationship between anger and creative performance.
First, the research team searched for papers that used terms such as 'anger' and 'creativity' in both English and Chinese. They then looked for studies that met the following criteria: 'Performance measurements on at least one creativity task were used' and 'Anger that was explicitly induced by the researcher or that occurred naturally was measured.'
After excluding articles that were not related to the topic, 23 papers remained. Of these, 18 were experimental studies in which researchers manipulated subjects' moods to deliberately make them angry, and the remaining five were non-experimental studies that targeted subjects' naturally felt anger. These studies were published between 2008 and 2024 and included a total of 2,413 subjects.
The meta-analysis found that overall there was a weak positive correlation between anger and creative performance. In other words, angry subjects performed slightly better on creative tasks. The team conducted further analyses to identify various factors that may influence the relationship between anger and creativity.
The researchers found that the association between anger and creative performance was somewhat stronger in studies conducted with participants from Eastern European countries, but was barely seen in studies conducted with participants from Western European countries. The new study also showed a stronger association between anger and creative performance than the older study.
Research has also found that anger is more strongly associated with 'malicious creativity' than with general creativity. Malicious creativity is when people use creative thinking to achieve malicious ends, coming up with unethical or destructive ideas or actions.
Other studies have shown that when participants' anger was elicited through 'imagination,' the association with creative performance was stronger. Furthermore, experimental studies in which participants' anger was deliberately induced showed a stronger association between anger and creative performance than non-experimental studies.
The researchers concluded: 'Specifically, anger appears to enhance creative performance, particularly when it is elicited through imaginative processes and when creativity is directed towards malicious aspects. However, the association between anger and creative performance was not affected by the type of creative task used, the reported creative outcomes, or the time limit of the task.'
Psychology news site PsyPost points out that while the study focused on the link between anger and creativity, it did not look at secondary emotions such as aggression and hostility that accompany anger, which may be important in understanding the link between anger and creativity.
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