This Study Says THIS Is the Best Way for Introverts to Be More Creative
Creativity is *very* on trend these days. Companies and organizations are recognizing that creativity isn’t just essential to those working in creative fields and industries — but that everyone’s better at their jobs when they find ways to be more creative every day. From creative workspaces to morning rituals to spark your creativity, there’s a lot you can do to get the juices flowing. But a new study says your methods might differ depending on whether you’re in introvert or an extrovert.
Researchers from the Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University, both in Australia, wanted to find out what the best method of boosting creativity was for different personality types, so they did two separate experiments. In one, they had participants do what they call ideational-skills training, which included things like brainstorming exercises, mind-mapping-type activities and other ways of really getting into the act of idea generation.
The researchers had another group of participants take part in relaxation training, which involved meditation, breathing exercises, stretching and tuning into feelings of anxiety and stress. What they found was that — while both ideation-skills training and relaxation training proved to boost creativity — which participants benefitted the most from each method depended on their individual personalities. Introverts’ creativity levels rose most after participating in relaxation, while extroverts benefitted more from ideational-skills. Huh!
“Our research has implications for organizations looking to tailor creativity training programs in order to maximize the benefit of such programs on individual performance,” the researchers write. In other words, get to know your employees personally, and then you can maximize their creativity. And also, know yourself! That’s the first step to figuring out what’s going to boost your creativity.
Are you an introvert or extrovert? Tweet us about YOUR creativity-boosting methods @BritandCo!
