Positive and Negative Affects Facilitate Insight Problem-Solving in Different Ways: A Study with Implicit Hints

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of affective states on the use of implicit hints when solving insight problems. To examine this, two experiments were conducted, both with Duncker's (1945) radiation problem as an insight problem. When primed with a hint, positive affect inhibited the number of incorrect solutions generated in Experiment 1 and increased the number of correct solutions in Experiment 2. In contrast, negative affect enhanced the participants’ performance regardless of the presence of hints across the two experiments. These results indicate that positive and negative affect facilitate insight problem-solving in different ways. It seems that positive affect implicitly prompts the acceptance of cues and broadens people's search of a problem space, and negative affect encourages people to intensively focus on solving the insight task. The results suggest a resolution of a long-standing debate on the effectiveness of positive versus negative affect in solving a problem.