How Can Contextual Variables Influence Creative Thinking? Contributions from the Optimal‐Level of Arousal Model

Abstract

More and more research is showing how different environments can lead to greater or lower creative skills. The purpose of this concept paper is to introduce a novel application of the optimal-level of arousal model that could address inconsistencies present in the literature. After introducing possible definitions of creativity, I discuss the optimal-level of arousal theory and how considering the "arousal" and "mood changing" potentials of contexts could enlighten findings related to inter-individual differences, domainspecificities, developmental aspects, and gender differences. Among other things, this model will clarify the factors influencing motivation to display creative skills which could improve the external validity of creativity studies. Examples of the kinds of hypotheses that can be tested by applying this model in future creative studies will also be proposed.

Riding the elephant in the room: Towards a revival of the optimal level of stimulation model

“…The greater the deviation is between an individual's actual stimulation level and his/her optimal level, the greater the extent to which he/she will engage in exploratory behaviours, either towards familiarity or novelty. For instance, boredom can promote mind-wandering and creativity, which may be considered as strategies to cope when the environment only provides very few affordances (Forster & Lavie, 2009;Gustafsson, 2022;Mann & Cadman, 2014). In contrast, environmental overstimulation may drive our attention towards more familiar stimuli.…”

Exploratory exploitation and exploitative exploration: The phenomenology of play and the computational dynamics of search

“…According to such a view, low arousal should favor both diversive curiosity to get more stimulation and divergent thinking to complexify one's environment. In contrast, high arousal would favor both specific curiosity and convergent thinking as both are aimed at solving problems and simplifying one's environment (Gustafsson, 2023).…”

Creativity is motivated by novelty. Curiosity is triggered by uncertainty

“…The proposed novelty-seeking model (NSM) includes four phases: affinity, activation, evaluation, and commitment. We would like to extend these points by considering an updated version of the optimal-level of arousal (or stimulation) model (henceforth OLA model), traditionally used to explain the exploration/exploitation continuum, and which has recently been proposed to clarify links between curiosity and creativity (Gustafsson, 2023;Ibáñez de Aldecoa, Burdett, & Gustafsson, 2022). For instance, the idea of novelty seeking as a biological need, as suggested by the authors, and by others (González-Cutre, Romero-Elías, Jiménez-Loaisa, Beltrán-Carrillo, & Hagger, 2020), has been criticized because an excess of novelty may be overstimulating, perceived as noise, and not necessarily evaluated positively.…”