FANTASY VERSUS DOCUMENTARY: A STUDY ON FILM AND CREATIVE THINKING AMONG UNDERGRADUATES

Abstract

Creativity is an important transferrable skill that drives innovation and progress across multiple domains. Investigations on creativity have made two conceptual distinctions; creative ideation versus innovation and divergent versus convergent thinking. As both divergent and convergent thinking are important ingredients of creativity, they are included in the assessment of creative ideation. In the present study, we compare the ability of two different film genres (Fantasy and Documentary) to facilitate creative ideation in viewers while factoring in the viewer’s familiarity (self-assigned). We hypothesise that individuals who watched an unfamiliar fantasy film will experience the most facilitation in creative ideation. Participants in both genre conditions had similar scores on two measures of creative ideation. Participant’s familiarity neither affected creative ideation nor moderated the effect of genre on creative ideation. Explanations for the low impact of film and familiarity on creative ideation in young adults are discussed.