The Creative Self in Context: Experience Sampling and the Ecology of Everyday Creativity

This chapter explores how ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods can illuminate everyday creativity, the often humble creative acts people do in their natural environments. After describing the notion of everyday creativity that guides this work, the present chapter reviews some common research designs and salient methodological issues for readers interested in conducting EMA research. Later, we review studies that have applied EMA methods—particularly experience sampling studies—to understand creativity in everyday environments. For creativity researchers, the ability to study creativity naturalistically—people working on their own creative goals at the times and places of their choosing—will offer new insights into what creativity looks like in the real world and the kinds of environments that spark and sustain it.