Mozart, Rock and Creativity Activation

Creativity and divergent thinking are cognitive processes involved in generation of new ideas and solutions that can contribute to innovation in organizations. Studies about creativity's antecedent have mostly focused on individual' characteristics, teams and organizational setting conditions; less attention has been given to cognitive stimulation. Along these lines, the present study investigates the effect of cognitive stimulation through music on divergent thinking. It is based on studies related to the Mozart effect that led to the proposition that exposure to music can lead to better performance in the short term, in specific cognitive abilities. An experiment with 133 students from business schools and international relations, divided into different groups was held: two were exposed to musical stimulation with different styles (rock and Mozart) and another had not cognitive stimulation before performing creative tasks. Divergent thinking was assessed by a subjective approach (top two scoring method). It was observed, using the variance analysis is (ANOVA), the groups exposed to music had higher levels of divergent thinking, compared to the control group. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.