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Background. Divergent and convergent creative tasks have reciprocal relationships with the affective experience of the individuals participating in the tasks. Previous studies have affirmed that divergent thinking tends to increase positive affect and convergent thinking tends to increase negative affect. However, creative projects often involve both divergent and convergent thinking tasks interspersed in a particular. This study is aimed at investigating how the ordering of divergent and convergent tasks during the creative process influences changes in the affective experience. The authors of the current study hypothesized that change in affect is influenced by both the type of task and the order of the task types. Methods. Twenty-two students taking a graduate-level class in “Design Thinking” at an engineering school participated as subjects. Four groups of students were each assigned to classes with different pairings of divergent and convergent tasks: either convergent tasks in a series, a divergent task followed by a convergent task, a convergent task followed by a divergent task, or two divergent tasks performed in a series. The subjects’ affective states were measured using the Self-Assessment Manikin technique before and after each task, and valence and arousal levels were compared to derive changes in affect. Results. Generally, after conducting the convergent tasks, affect remained neutral. Affect shifted in a positive direction after divergent tasks and became more negative after two consecutive convergent tasks. The valence became significantly more positive for all divergent tasks. The valence of the tasks became more negative only in the convergent–convergent task combination. Likewise, arousal levels significantly increased after almost all the divergent tasks. Conclusions. The participants’ affective states were raised most significantly in the divergent process. However, the convergent task did not necessarily decrease the valence and arousal levels. Only in the case of the class assigned two convergent tasks was the affect made more negative. Thus, the current study revealed that divergent processing strongly influences affect. This illustrates the importance of the order and combination of divergent and convergent tasks in a creative group work and therefore, how to design creative tasks in terms of optimal affective experiences for participants.

Changes in Affective Experiences in Convergent and Divergent Creative Group Works