Revealing the feature of mind wandering as related to creativity and mental health

Abstract

Previous research has shown that mind wandering improves creativity while it may simultaneously lead to mental illness. However, it has also been shown that some kinds of mind wandering are not related to negative mood or mental illness, and such mind wandering seems to improve creativity while maintaining good mental health. Therefore, our study examined what kinds of mind wandering are generated in highly creative people with a high level of mental health, focusing on daily life. Seventy-eight undergraduate and graduate students participated in the study. We measured indicators of creativity and mental health in the experiment room and measured the situation and features of mind wandering using an experience sampling method over three days. Results showed that highly creative people with a high level of mental health do not think much about social-related and future-related thought. In the future, we need to examine whether evoking MW that does not include things about others actually enhances creativity without inhibiting mental health.