Making Versus Viewing Art: Effects on Affect, Enjoyment, and Flow

In two studies, we compared whether making and viewing art improved affect and whether the affective benefits were due to participants’ experience of enjoyment and flow. In Study 1, participants engaged in an art-making and art-viewing activity separated by one week. In Study 2, participants were randomly assigned to an art-making or art-viewing activity. In both studies, we induced a negative mood in participants by having them watch a sad film clip. We measured positive and negative affects before and after the mood induction and after the activity. In Study 2, participants rated levels of enjoyment and flow experienced during the activity. Both making and viewing art reduced negative affect equally. However, making art improved positive affect more than viewing art, and making art was associated with greater enjoyment than viewing art. Actively making art is a potentially more powerful way to improve affect than passively viewing art.