Effects of the interaction between exercising self-control and PhoPhiKat on divergent and convergent thinking

This study investigated how the interaction between exercising self-control and PhoPhiKat disposition influences divergent and convergent thinking. In Study 1, 77 university students completed the PhoPHiKat-45 before being randomly assigned to the exercising self-control or neutral group. After experimental manipulation, participants were asked to complete the divergent thinking test. The results indicate that the students with high gelotophilia in the exercising self-control group were more fluent and flexible in generating ideas compared with those in the neutral group. Regarding originality, compared with the students with low katagelasticism, the students with high katagelasticism in the self-control group demonstrated a higher degree of originality than those in the neutral group. In Study 2, 66 students were randomly assigned to the exercising self-control or neutral group, and the dependent variable was the convergent thinking test (i.e., the critical thinking test). The results show that those with high gelotophobia in the self-control group demonstrated a higher degree of convergent thinking than did those in the neutral group. However, those with low gelotophobia in the neutral group exhibited a higher degree of convergent thinking compared with those in the self-control group. Thus, PhoPhiKat dispositions influenced the effect of exercising self-control on divergent and convergent thinking.