Research shows we check our smartphones about 84 times each day and spend up to 5 hours on them. Tech and social media use have been linked to a wide range of areas, including mental health, cognition, and social/emotional aspects. But is social media use related to creativity?
A new study by psychologists Joshua Upshaw, Whitney Davis, and Darya Zabelina at the University of Arkansas just published in Translational Issues in Psychological Science explores the relationships between social media use, divergent thinking, and real-life creative achievement.
In a sample of 379 undergraduates, they correlated scores on a divergent thinking measure, a self-reported real-life creative achievement scale, and a smartphone addiction scale. The Alternative Uses Task was used to measure divergent thinking (the measurement of creativity), in which participants are asked to generate as many alternative and creative uses for something like an ordinary brick. The Creative Achievement Questionnaire asked participants across ten areas (visual art, music, dance, architectural design, creative writing, humor, inventions, scientific discovery, theater and film, and culinary arts). A smartphone addition scale was used having participants rate to what extent: “I have a hard time concentrating in class while doing assignments, or while working due to smartphone use.”
The authors conclude: “We report that people who think in more creative ways tend to not actively engage in social media and are generally less addicted to their smartphones. People with real-life creative accomplishments, on the other hand, tend to be more active on social media platforms.”
