Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Date of Award

January 2017

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Boris B. Baltes

Second Advisor

Jason L. Huang

Abstract

The present study assessed how individuals respond to stimuli in their immediate work environment. Specifically, I conducted a laboratory experiment with a student sample to test the influence of natural stimuli in the workspace on individuals’ creative performance. Additionally, I tested a series of potential mediating variables that could have driven the effect: state positive affect, state openness to experience, and self-regulation of effort. While the results indicated that the hypotheses were broadly unsupported, supplemental analyses revealed that the intervention significantly predicted effort regulation in a high-performing subgroup. Study limitations and recommendations for future directions are discussed.

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