Creative classes and wellbeing

1. Recreational classes are an effective way to reduce stress and burnout, by promoting psychological detachment.
                    
Higher levels of psychological detachment during time away from work predicted lower levels of burnout at a subsequent time point
                    
Source: Psychology study of 200+ participants by Lancaster, P. G. (2013). Predictors and outcomes of occupational burnout: A five-wave longitudinal study. (See also 'psychological detachment' academic journal articles below)
                    

Engaging in hobbies is associated with lower burnout levels.
                    
Source: Study of 365 teachers by Seidman, S. A. & Zager, J. (1991). A study of coping behaviours and teacher burnout, Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations, 5:3, 205-216
                    

Crafts like knitting are particularly effective in reducing stress.
                    
Source: Study of 225 adults by Utsch, H. (2007). Knitting and stress reduction, PhD study, Department of Clinical Psychology, Antioch University New England, Keene, NH.

                    

The effect shows up in the body, not just in how people say they feel - 45 minutes of art making measurably lowers cortisol, the stress hormone.
                    
Nearly 75% of the participants had lower cortisol levels following art making
                    
Source: Study of 39 adults by Kaimal, G., Ray, K., & Muniz, J. (2016). Reduction of cortisol levels and participants' responses following art making, Art Therapy, 33 (2), 74-80.

                

2. New experiences + Less stress = Higher creativity and productivity.
                    
Through the successful implementation of an effective action to create a mentally healthy workplace, organisations, on average, can expect a positive return on investment (ROI) of 2.3 X.
                    
Source: Creating a mentally healthy workplace - return on investment analysis report by PWC

                    
Stressed people primarily display routinized, habitual, well-rehearsed behaviour patterns, because their attention is focused on the stressors with the result that creative ideas are less likely to come to awareness.
                    
Mere exposure to more and increasingly divergent information raises creativity
                    
Sources: Multiple studies, e.g. Simonton, D. K. (1999). Origins of genius: Darwinian perspectives on creativity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; and Martindale, C. (1999). The biological basis of creativity. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of creativity (pp. 137-152). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

                    
Should the stressors continue, [employees are] at significant risk of developing physiological and psychological disorders that can lead to increased absenteeism, organizational dysfunction, and decreased work productivity
                    
Source: Study by Colligan, T. W., & Higgins, E. M. (2006). Workplace stress: Etiology and consequences. Journal of workplace behavioral health, 21(2), 89-97.
                

3. Workers spread their positivity and negativity. E.g. workers who had positive wellbeing are more likely to have positive team members around them 6 months later; the opposite is also true - stressed or downtrodden people bring down those around them.
                    
Emotion travels over social networks in much the same way viruses do
                    
Source: Study of 100+ teams, by Gallup social scientists. gallup.com/businessjournal/158732/wellbeing-contagious-better-worse.aspx
                

4. Making things is one of the strongest everyday predictors of life satisfaction and happiness.
                    
In a national survey of 7,182 adults, arts and crafting predicted higher happiness, higher life satisfaction and a stronger sense that life is worthwhile - even after accounting for age, health, deprivation and employment status. Its effect on feeling that life is worthwhile was larger than the effect of being in a job.
                    
Engaging in [creating arts and crafting] significantly predicted increased life satisfaction, a sense that life is worthwhile and happiness, above and beyond known sociodemographic predictors
                    
Source: Study of 7,182 adults by Keyes, H., Gradidge, S., Forwood, S. E., et al. (2024). Creating arts and crafting positively predicts subjective wellbeing, Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1417997.
                

5. Engaging in creative activities is associated with lower subsequent risk of dementia.
                    
Spending more time on creative activities (like crafts or hobbies) increases the chances that you will reduce your risk of dementia.
                    
We found that engagement in crossword puzzles and crafts reduced the risk of dementia
                    
Some of the activities (e.g. bridge, board games) which require interaction with other people can be considered partly social activities, and social integration has been shown to be associated with dementia risk reduction
                    
Source: Scientific study of a cohort of 942 participants, by Hughes, T., Chang, C. H., Bilt, J. V., Ganguli, M. (2010). Engagement in reading and hobbies and risk of incident dementia

                

A much larger and more recent study followed 10,318 older adults for ten years and found the same pattern. Creative artistic activities - craftwork, woodwork, metalwork, painting or drawing - were associated with a 7% lower risk of dementia, and adult literacy activities such as taking classes with a 11% lower risk.
                    
These findings suggest that engagement in adult literacy, creative art, and active and passive mental activities may help reduce dementia risk in late life
                    
Source: Study of 10,318 participants by Wu, Z., Pandigama, D. H., Wrigglesworth, J., et al. (2023). Lifestyle enrichment in later life and its association with dementia risk, JAMA Network Open, 6 (7), e2323690.
                

More reading

                    
Fancourt, D. & Finn, S. (2019). What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review. WHO Health Evidence Network synthesis report 67. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe. (The broadest review to date - over 900 publications, including 200 reviews covering more than 3,000 studies.)
                    
Fritz, C., Yankelevich, M., Zarubin, A., & Barger, P. (2010). Happy, healthy, and productive: The role of detachment from work during nonwork time. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95 (5), 977-983.
                    
Riley, J., Corkhill, B. and Morris, C. (2013). The benefits of knitting for personal and social wellbeing in adulthood: findings from an international survey, British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 76 (2), 50-52.
                    
Sonnentag, S. & Fritz, C. (2007). The recovery experience questionnaire: Development and validation of a measure for assessing recuperation and unwinding from work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12 (3), 204-221.
                    
Sonnentag, S., Binnewies, C., & Mojza, E. J. (2010). Staying well and engaged when demands are high: The role of psychological detachment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95 (5), 965-976.
                    
Taris, T. W. (2006). Is there a relationship between burnout and objective performance? A critical review of 16 studies. Work & Stress, 20 (4), 316-334.
                    
Toppinen-Tanner, S., Kalimo, R., & Mutanen, R. (2002). The process of burnout in white-collar and blue-collars jobs: Eight year prospective study of exhaustion. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23 (5), 555-570.