Creativity research is good at understanding what psychologists call the “cognitive” aspects of creativity—coming up with ideas, combining and developing concepts, and thinking through problems in rational ways. But creativity researchers tend to neglect another very important part of the human experience: emotions, attitudes, and mindsets.

Generative AI is pretty effective at imitating the cognitive abilities of people, but no one would claim that ChatGPT gets angry, or that an AI could be “self-critical” or have a “growth mindset.” People’s brains do more than just think. We’re emotionally rich. We can reflect on our actions; we have attitudes, experiences, and moods. For example, researchers know that being in the flow state of peak experience is associated with greater creativity. That’s not cognitive; that’s a kind of spiritual awareness. And research shows that having creative self-beliefs—believing in your own creative potential—leads to greater creativity.

There are plenty of creativity books about the cognitive side of creativity, including my book Explaining Creativity. Along with these books, we now have an exciting new book that adds to the cognitive approach by focusing on the emotions and mindsets of creativity. Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle is a Senior Research Scientist at the Yale Center for

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