Positive Affect Enhances the Association of Hypomanic Personality and Cognitive Flexibility

Abstract

Several lines of research have suggested a link between mania and creativity, The goal of the present study was to test whether positive affect moderated the relationship between risk for mania (assessed with the Hypomanic Personality Scale [HPS]) and a variable postulated to be a cognitive component of creativity: cognitive flexibility. Fifty-three undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either a neutral or positive mood induction condition. They then completed the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (DKEFS) Sorting Test as a measure of cognitive flexibility. Consistent with our hypothesis, higher HPS scores were associated with greater cognitive flexibility among participants in the positive mood induction condition. Covariate analyses revealed that results were not confounded by verbal intelligence or the presence of current depression symptoms. Our findings suggest a mood-dependent link between hypomanic personality and one potential component of creative cognition.

Factor structure of the French version of the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS) in non-clinical young adults

“…Trevisani et al demonstrated that individuals with high HPS scores are able to detect subtly positive facial expressions [25]. Fulford et al (2013) have shown that, when they are in a positive mood, people with high HPS scores exhibit enhanced cognitive flexibility [47]. Gruber et al's study found that high HPS score seems to be associated with an enhancement of positive affect and increased irritability [48].…”

Creativity is linked to ambition across the bipolar spectrum

“…Indeed, cognitive variables tied to creative accomplishment, such as attentional set-shifting, fluidity, and reactive flexibility, appear compromised in BD (Clark et al, 2005). A proposed mechanism of elevated positive affectivity has generated both positive (Fulford et al, 2013) and null findings (Johnson et al, in press). …”

Measuring the validity and psychometric properties of a short form of the Hypomanic Personality Scale

“…Eckblad and Chapman's initial validation study found that 77% of high HPS scorers experienced a hypomanic episode and a 13-year follow-up of the sample found that the HPS predicted the onset of bipolar disorders (Kwapil et al, 2000). HPS scores are associated with impulsivity (Johnson, Carver, Mulé, & Joorman, 2013), increased positive affect and irritability (Gruber, Oveis, Keltner, & Johnson, 2008), sensitivity to positive stimuli (Trevisani, Johnson, & Carver, 2008), and greater cognitive flexibility when in a positive mood (Fulford, Feldman, Tabak, McGillicuddy, & Johnson, 2013). Walsh, Royal, Brown et al (2012) found an association between high HPS scores and bipolar diagnoses, Akiskal's spectrum disorders, and a range of subclinical and associated traits (hypomania, hyperthymic temperament, borderline traits, irritability, and depressive symptoms), providing further evidence of its validity as a measure of the broader bipolar spectrum.…”