The relationship between media multitasking and creativity: Explanations from multiple perspectives

Abstract: There are discrepancies among findings on the relationship between media multitasking and creativity. We evaluated the relationship between creative thinking and creative behavior performance and explained it based on multiple perspectives. The positive relationship between media multitasking and divergent thinking is viewed from the perspective of executive function, and it has been found that the enhancement of cognitive flexibility, which is required to complete media multitasking, is related to the improvement of divergent thinking. The relationship between media multitasking and convergent thinking can be explained by the perspective of attention style, and the high-level attention span required for media multitasking is found to promote convergent thinking; however, the weakening of individual cognitive persistence also complicates the relationship. There is also evidence from emotional activation and cognitive integration for the positive relationship between media multitasking and creative behavior performance. Future research could further investigate the underlying mechanisms and explore effective ways to use media multitasking to stimulate creativity.