creativity

Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from University College London and two other advanced degrees in psychology. He has been writing about scientific research on PsyBlog since 2004. View all posts by Dr Jeremy Dean

About: Umar Siddiqui is an author, essayist, and creative thinker whose work explores themes of creativity, mental health, connection, fashion, music, identity, and personal growth. He is the author of Inventing Your Exit, a unique collection that combines playlists, essays, and poetry to encourage readers to look within, embrace creativity, and take an active role... The post Author Interview: U…

Nature, Published online: 29 May 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-01393-z Stephon Alexander says his passion for musical improvisation helps him to understand and teach complex ideas.

IntroductionThe proliferation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education presents a double-edged sword: while promising transformative pedagogical potential, it simultaneously triggers significant “AI anxiety” among educators. Despite its relevance, the psychological mechanisms through which this specific anxiety impedes teachers’ willingness to innovate remain underexplored.MethodsB…

Building on prior evidence linking self-reflective rumination to creativity, and given the well-established association between creativity and well-being, the present cross-sectional study examined associations between self-reflective rumination and self-beliefs in creativity and well-being (SBCW), with specific attention to the potential indirect role of creative self-efficacy. A large sample of…

Want to generate better ideas? A new study tracking daily movement and imagination found that taking a brief, brisk walk can visibly boost your verbal creativity roughly an hour later.

Anna Abraham’s The Creative Brain: Myths and Truths didn’t necessarily introduce me to entirely new creativity myths—I’ve spent enough time around psychology, neuroscience, and education to already know the usual suspects. The “right-brained creative.” The tortured genius. But we may still be romanticized by ideas like psychedelics unlock some dormant creative capaci…

A new meta-analysis suggests that relying on generative artificial intelligence for brainstorming makes people think alike. Though AI helps individuals generate ideas, evidence indicates it tends to shrink the overall diversity of human creativity.

Emotional intelligence can be an enhancer of innovative thinking. This article showcases compelling research as well as several EI/creativity practices.

Creative ideas rarely arrive when artists are sitting perfectly still in their studios. They show up in showers, dreams, gardens, midnight wakeups, and strange little moments nobody expects. We asked our Arts to Hearts community where their best ideas actually come from, and the responses felt deeply honest, oddly specific, and incredibly relatable. From door handles triggering sudden visions to …

Creativity is something people usually connect only with art. But for me, even life itself is an art. You cannot say that you do not have creativity. If you believe that, then perhaps you do not fully know yourself yet. Creativity is part of human existence itself. There was a psychologist named Sigmund Freud who believed that we repress painful thoughts and emotions, and that these hidden feelin…

Existing accounts of creativity describe its products, its psychological correlates, and its neural substrates, but do not specify what structural event constitutes a genuinely creative act as distinct from sophisticated revision of existing knowledge. This paper provides that specification within the Hierarchical Constraint Processing (HCP) framework. Creativity is defined as a support extension…

What if feeling better didn't start with fixing yourself but with expressing yourself?

Negation induces creation, as proposed by famous thinkers. Reduced to an agent’s action, “to negate” becomes “to ask: What else?” Thus, negation is one of the drivers of creativity that operate beyond syntactic systems, linguistics, and even established knowledge. ( direct link )

Discover the top AI use cases for productivity and creativity—from content generation to emotional support—and learn how to implement them today.

This paper explores the nature of creativity as an inherent quality of human action, questioning whether true creativity can exist through borrowed thought. It argues that while all actions may appear creative, their authenticity depends on direct perception rather than repetition rooted in memory. The inquiry suggests that creativity is not the absence of influence, but the presence of awareness…

Can AI teach creativity? This question feels oddly self-contradictory. Creativity feels like the most human of human characteristics — how could a chatbot teach it? A recent study put that assumption to the test, and arrives at helpfully provocative conclusions. Here’s the story: How Many Ways Can You Use an Umbrella? “Creativity” poses a fascinating […]

Institute at the USC School of Dramatic Arts starts with an AI think tank focused on developing distinctly human skills and advancing creativity. The post Drama school launches USC Institute for Actor-Driven Innovation to empower performers for the age of AI appeared first on USC .

Every year on 21 April, World Creativity and Innovation Day invites us to celebrate human ingenuity. Traditionally, that meant celebrating creativity through art, science, and new ideas. In an AI world, it also means asking a more uncomfortable question.

Perfectionism often impedes the creative process. However, an awareness of the two types of perfectionism can open up creative thinking and generate more ideas.