Randomised controlled studies find tea enhances divergent creativity

A study in the journal Food Quality and Preference suggests that tea-drinking benefits divergent thinking, a key element of creativity that's associated with generating ideas or identifying patterns.

The researchers from Peking University greeted their initial 50 student participants with a cup of either hot water or black Lipton tea, before asking them to use children's building blocks to make the most attractive design they could. Independent raters, blind to the study purpose and condition, rated the tea-drinkers designs as more creative, in terms of factors like aesthetic appeal, innovativeness and grandness.

In a second study, 40 more participants proposed names for a ramen noodle shop, and judges considered the names produced by tea-drinkers to be more innovative (but no more playful).

Tea drinking has already been tied to enhanced convergent thinking – coming up with the single correct answer to a problem – but the researchers claim theirs is the first study to find a relationship with more open, explorative thinking.

The reasons for the effect aren't clear: no significant improvement in arousal or positive mood was observed in the tea drinkers, nor did the participants prepare tea themselves, a ritual that some have speculated could help shift mindset. It's possible that the effect is simply due to relaxation – so why not sit back and enjoy a brew with your next brainstorm.

Further reading

—Drinking tea improves the performance of divergent creativity

About the author

Alex Fradera (@alexfradera) is Staff Writer at BPS Research Digest