The Effect of Standing versus Sitting on creativity in Vocational Education and Training students

Creativity is increasingly important for success in the labor market. Standing potentially influences creativity as several brain mechanisms are stimulated by light physical activity such as standing. Therefore, our aim is to investigate the effect of standing during class on creativity in vocational education and training (VET) students. In a randomized controlled cross-over study, 192 VET students were assigned to either a sitting or standing condition during 30 minutes. During the last 15 minutes, the students performed the Guilford’s Alternate Uses test for divergent thinking and the Remote Associates Test for convergent thinking. Subsequently, the conditions were switched and the procedure was repeated in the same lesson. The data was analyzed using multilevel analyses. No effects of standing on divergent thinking, B = -0.06, SEb = 0.22, 95%CI = -0.49; 0.38, or convergent thinking, B = -0.20, SEb = 0.15, 95%CI = -0.56; 0.03 were found. It can be concluded that short-time standing does not affect creativity in VET students. Future studies should investigate the effects of more prolonged or intensive physical activity on creativity.