Does Walking Improve Creativity?

As increasing amounts of research and data are collected regarding creativity, there are interesting developments that factor into our daily lives. . A study conducted by Darya Zabelina indicated a negative correlation between attentional persistence and creativity through divergent thinking and attentional flexibility tests. While attention may not be conducive towards creativity, physical activity like walking has been shown to benefit creative thinkers. Researchers at Stanford have found a particularly intriguing implication that has been linked to increased creativity. They illustrate the positive correlation between walking and creativity through four experiments with a sample of 176 college students and adults.  According to the study co-authored by Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz, creative thinking improves during and shortly after walking. There is a distinct difference between the creativity levels of those who are sitting when compared to those who are standing. This is exhibited through the significant majority of participants who were more creative while walking. 

Furthermore, this study examined the participants with respect to if they were standing or sitting. They also used indoor and outdoor settings in order to understand the effect that setting has upon creative thinking. Three of the creativity tests that were used under these conditions were based upon divergent thinking, which is the method used to think of creative ideas through the consideration of many potential solutions.  This test required the participants to propose substitute uses for an object in a span of four minutes. Their goal was to collect as many ideas they could in order to illustrate the extent of divergent thinking each participant experienced under the different conditions. The creative ideas were the ones that were appropriate and no one else had come across. The fourth method that the researchers used was dependent upon the complex analogies that the participants created in response to prompt phrases. 

After the results were collected, the researchers found, through the divergent tests that creative output increased in walking participants by approximately 60%. Additionally, the analogy test indicated that 100% of the participants who walked outside had at least one novel analogy while only 50% of those who were seated did. These results provide marked evidence for walking having a positive effect upon creative thinking; however, the results do not implicate a connection between focused thinking and walking. The results indicate that walking has a beneficial effect upon the beginning stages of creativity. It is not known, however, the extent to which this effect exists and whether it differs from person to person. The implications allow for another potential benefit of physical activity and provides an incentive for it in the process.

Wong, May. "Stanford Study Finds Walking Improves Creativity." Stanford University. N.p., 24 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.

Zabelina, D., & Beeman, M. (2013). Short-Term Attentional Perseveration Associated with Real-Life Creative Achievement. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00191