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Overcoming fixed mindsets: The role of affect
Haager, Julia S. Kuhbandner, Christof Pekrun, Reinhard
Haager, Julia S.
Kuhbandner, Christof
Pekrun, Reinhard
Abstract
When there is an established strategy to solve a problem, we often approach the problem with a mindset that makes us blind for more efficient solutions. We examined the role of affect in overcoming such blinding effects of mindsets. As positive affect is known to broaden and negative affect to narrow thought–action repertoires, we speculated that positive affect facilitates and negative affect impedes the overcoming of a current mindset. To induce a mindset, participants initially solved 60 similar problems which were only solvable using the same complex strategy. After a short break in which positive or negative affect was induced, participants continued to work on the problems. Critically, there now was an additional simple way to solve the problems. Participants experiencing positive affect were more likely to detect the simple solution than participants experiencing negative affect. These findings reveal that affect modulates how much we are constrained by current mindsets.
Keywords
emotions, insight, mental set, mood, problem solving, mental fixation
Date
2014
Type
Journal article
Journal
Cognition and Emotion
Book
Volume
28
Issue
4
Page Range
756-767
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled