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Synopsis : Amid growing interest in creativity in the lab and on the pages of popular books and magazines, these recent studies stand out

The 21st century is witnessing a renaissance in creativity in both the lab and the pages of popular books and magazines. “Creativity is a topic at many conferences and many grad students are getting excited about the subject,” says Scott Barry Kaufman, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology at New York University. “2012 was a good year for creativity research, journals devoted to creativity published a lot of great work and other fields weighed in.”

The most newsworthy research came from cognitive psychologists researching creativity “boosters”. Jennifer Wiley’s lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago found that a certain dose of alcohol helped participants solve tricky word problems. Mareike Wieth and Rose Zacks demonstrated that undergrads were better at solving insight-based problems when they tested during their least optimal time. This means that night owls did better in the morning while morning larks did better in the afternoon. Counter-intuitive findings like these scattered psychology journals and made for catchy headlines in the press.

Cognitive flexibility, the ability to switch between thinking about two concepts or consider multiple perspectives simultaneously, is also a popular topic in the neuroscience world. Darya Zabelina, a graduate student at Northwestern University who studies creativity informed me that, “a lot of people are studying cognitive flexibility from a lot of different perspectives. It will be one of the topics researchers will continue to focus on in 2013.”

Countless popular psychology books that either focused on or mentioned creativity were published in 2012. Susan Cain lambasted brainstorming and “GroupThink” in her bestseller and introvert manifesto Quiet. Drawing on a wide body of robust research she reminded our hyper social world that working alone is usually better than working in groups in terms of productivity and creativity. Dan Ariely’s book The Honest Truth About Dishonesty contains a chapter on the relationship between dishonesty and creativity – honesty might not be good for creativity. The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg made some important suggestions for creativity: if you’re in a rut, try changing your routine. The elephant in the room is Jonah Lehrer’s Imagine: The Science of Creativity, which the public gobbled up. Scientists in the field rightly expressed concerns about how Lehrer portrayed and interpreted some of the science but they are also happy that good science writers are attracted to the field. Unfortunately, Lehrer got pegged for plagiarizing and inventing Bob Dylan quotes. Kaufman said it best: “When people started doubting the veracity of that book, they started doubting the veracity of the science.”

I’m optimistic about next year. Creativity researchers will continue to produce great research and improve our understanding of creativity as well as methods to measure it. In the spirit of Ken Robinson’s celebrated TED talk (now with over 13 million hits) we should broaden our conception of creativity; it is diverse and anyone can tap into it, even adults. Science writers will continue to write about creativity and the general public will continue to enjoy reading about it. Let’s strengthen the relationship between the academy and the journalism world, keeping in mind how we can use social media to promote the science of creativity and correct misconceptions about it (i.e., that people either are or not ‘creative’). This is important for education, where creativity research is especially useful, although it has implications for every industry.

It’s unclear where, exactly, the science of creativity will go next year, but the most interesting discoveries surely await us.

The stress of urban life has been a commonplace problem for as long as cities have existed. Only lately, however, have scientists been able to measure how city dwellers develop greater emotional disturbance in their brains than rural folk. Functional brain imaging now shows how common urban stressors, such as social disapproval, stress the brain.

One can find a plethora of quotes on the subject of happiness, from philosophers and writers to superstars or saints. Happiness seems the most universally sought commodity worldwide. Perhaps my interest in this topic of late is a result of the holidays, or perhaps it stems from spending too much time marketing my novels recently and not enough writing the next one, but I find my philosophical side coming to the forefront as I look toward the new year.

We usually know happiness when we experience it, or when we think we see it displayed through the windows of our neighbors’ lives. Certainly a startling number of people covet the perceived happiness of others. Yet if happiness is to be gained, the path lies not before the brunette with the rich husband but before our own two feet. The road to happiness doesn’t require a pair of Louboutin heels to forge the way. This path can be walked by even the most well-worn soles.

To find that path, here are three rules to live by:

1. Do what you love.

If you’re not doing what you love and loving what you’re doing, ask yourself, “Why?” Who is stopping you from your dream of writing, from making that trip to places exotic and wonderful, from having a family or jumping into a new career? […]

2. Happiness lies within.

What does this mean? It means it begins with our deciding to see the glass half-full. All the happiness we ever find lies within ourselves, within our choices and our truths; in living life to the fullest extent; in appreciating what we are given and giving generously in return. […]

3. Don’t seek happiness. Seek the mountain. Happiness will join you along the way.

One of the best definitions of happiness I’ve found describes happiness as”the overcoming of not unknowable obstacles toward a known goal.” Reading that carefully, we find that happiness isn’t necessarily gained in the goal itself, but rather in striving toward the goal—in the playing of the game. As soon as the game is won, well, it’s necessary to find a new game or face a quick degradation into withering stagnation and boredom. […]