Beyond the Here and Now: Leveraging Distal Mental Simulation for Creative Breakthroughs

Abstract

Beyond our own experience in the “here and now,” humans are capable of imagining temporally and spatially distant situations, incorporating the perspectives of others, and considering hypothetical situations rather than real ones. This process of self-projection into temporal, spatial, social, or hypothetical reality is called mental simulation (MS). Because of the limitations of human imagination, the more distant a situation becomes in time, place, perspective, and likelihood, namely, the greater the psychological distance, the more difficult the simulation becomes. To date, no study has examined whether distal MS, which is far removed from reality, enhances creativity. Therefore, this study investigated whether creativity can be improved by using distal MS. Studies 1 (n = 207) and 2 (n = 456) tested whether distal MS (vs. control and proximal MS) could enhance adult creativity in Japanese participants. The Unusual Uses Task (Guilford, 1967) was utilized as the creativity task. Study 1 partially supported the research hypothesis. Study 2 showed that creativity was enhanced when participants were asked to perform distal MS using an abstract processing style that directed their attention to a larger context that included imaginary events. This indicates that abstraction links distal MS to creativity. Therefore, transcending one’s current experience and experiencing a distant observer enhance creative performance. These findings suggest new ways for teachers, business leaders, and others to promote creative thinking.