Seminar – Unlocking creative potential: Reappraising emotional events facilitates creativity for conventional thinkers

Chris Bauman, Associate Professor, UCI Paul Merage School of Business

Emotion regulation is arguably as common as emotion experiences. Emotion regulation can involve a variety of cognitive processes, but prior research focuses on the consequences of emotion experiences. We examine the cognitive processes that underpin emotion regulation strategies and their associations with creativity. Building on theories of emotion regulation and creative cognition, we theorise that cognitive reappraisal of emotion-eliciting events is positively associated with creativity because both involve considering new approaches or perspectives. We also predict that reappraisal experience boosts creativity for people prone to thinking conventionally. Three studies support our theory by demonstrating that reappraisal improves cognitive flexibility and enhances creativity for individuals low in openness to experience, independent from the effects of emotions on creativity. Therefore, reappraisal is an effective tool to foster creativity among conventional thinkers. More broadly, the results indicate that emotion regulation processes have downstream consequences on behaviour, above and beyond their effects on emotions.

Speaker bio

Chris Bauman’s research addresses how people make sense of and respond to their social environment, including the individuals, groups, and organisations with whom they interact. One line of his research focuses on how individuals determine issues of ethics and fairness. This work includes studies of individual decision making, group diversity, and corporate social responsibility. Another line of his research examines information processing in negotiation and its implications for tactics that can increase individual or mutual gains.

His research has been published in top academic journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. His work has also been featured in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and Harvard Business Review.

Chris Bauman earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Master of Science and PhD degrees at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

For more information, please contact Luke Slater.