Indoor air quality (IAQ) parameters include gas levels, airborne particulate matter like PM10 and PM2.5, microbial contaminants, and environmental factors including air temperature, humidity and air movement. Excessive exposure can cause health and psychological issues such as reduced productivity, sick-building syndrome, and impaired cognitive abilities, but there is little understanding of its impact on creativity. As creativity involves multiple cognitive processes, there may be a link between IAQ and creativity.
Shmitha Arikrishnan and colleagues recently studied creativity, a multi-faceted ability measured through divergent thinking. The SBP (Serious Brick Play) method, which uses LEGO bricks, provides a hands-on learning experience to quantify creative ability. This study used SBP to test the impact of IAQ on creativity and found that reducing TVOC concentration increased creativity score, but reducing PM2.5 and increasing ventilation rate did not show significant effects. The study was published in Scientific Reports.
Companies are increasingly seeking creative solutions to problems from their employees, but the office environment may hinder their creativity. This study evaluated the role of indoor air quality parameters (PM2.5, TVOC, and CO2) in fostering a creative environment using SBP, an adaptation of the LEGO Serious Play (LSP) framework. The study was conducted over six weeks in a simulated office space with 92 participants. Participants addressed challenges by building with Lego bricks and describing their solutions. The creations and descriptions were graded on originality, fluency, and creativity.
The results showed that higher TVOC levels were associated with lower-rated creative solutions. A 71.9% reduction in TVOC (from 1000 ppb) improved an individual's full creative potential by 11.5%. Maintaining a low TVOC level will enhance creativity in offices.
This paper, which examines the link between IAQ pollutants and creativity, suggests ample scope for further research. The creativity study method was interactive and hands-on, not allowing individual cognitive processes to be explored. Future research should investigate the specific connection between pollutants and creativity. Although creative cognition is still new, non-invasive techniques like electroencephalography could help researchers study brain response, while SBP could help understand how playful, hands-on tests stimulate creativity.
Reference:
Arikrishnan, S.et al. Experimental study on the impact of indoor air quality on creativity by Serious Brick Play method. Sci Rep 13, 15488 (2023).