Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Creativity research has seldom focused on the neurophysiological dynamics of the subjectively experienced quality of creative ideas. This study reports the reanalysis of an ecological momentary assessment of 157 participants, who previously showed higher heart rate variability (HRV) associated with higher objective creativity in the figural domain and reduced HRV with higher objective creativity in the verbal domain. As a new angle, this study investigated if HRV and HR – indicating autonomic nervous system functioning – are similarly linked to subjective creativity measures as observed for objective creativity. Supporting this assumption, a moderation effect of domain and HRV was found for subjective creativity mirroring the effects for objective creativity. Higher HRV was associated with higher subjective creativity in the figural domain. Furthermore, higher HR was associated with higher subjective creativity in the verbal domain. When controlling objective creativity, the moderation effect of the creativity domain remained significant. These findings underline that the dynamics of neurophysiological processes might be similar but uniquely associated with objective and subjective creativity, depending on the creativity domain. This study argues for the value of a combined assessment of subjective and objective creativity ratings when studying the dynamics of creative ideation processes in everyday life.
Rominger et al. (Sun,) studied this question.