The effect of Hatha yoga intervention on students' creative ability

Abstract

There is increasing demand for individual creativity as organizations seek innovative ways to remain relevant. Higher education institutions, particularly business schools, are sensitive to this demand and are constantly in search for innovative ways to enhance the creative ability of their students. Prior studies have shown encouraging results for physical activity-oriented interventions. Building on this research, this study uses Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to understand if an acute combinatory intervention, involving both physical and mental exercises embodied in Hatha yoga can improve individual creativity. This study uses 92 MBA student participants to investigate the impact of a 20-minute Hatha yoga session intervention against a short 20-minute case study session for the control group. Creative ability of the participants is operationalized through divergent and convergent thinking, which are then assessed through counter-balanced forms of Guilford Alternate Uses tasks and Remote Associate Test, respectively. The results show that while Hatha yoga significantly improves divergent thinking, the control group shows deterioration in divergent thinking. There is no effect on convergent thinking. These findings lend some support to the executive function hypothesis. The study also finds that prodding a person to be more creative on a routine academic task may not enhance their creative ability.

Keywords: Convergent thinking; Creative ability; Creativity training programs; Divergent thinking; Ego-depletion theory; Executive function; Hatha yoga; Physical activity.