We are often told that tapping into our creative side is the ultimate mood booster. But a new study reveals a hidden cost for those who do it for a living: a sharp emotional crash the very next day.
A newly published daily-diary study by researchers at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center reveals that while creativity lifts the mood of both professionals and hobbyists in the moment, the day-after effects diverge significantly depending on how people engage with their art.
The findings, published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, tracked 355 adults –including 202 creative practitioners and 153 casual creators — across 13 daily surveys of their multidimensional well-being.
“Creativity is usually framed as a straightforward path to feeling better,” said lead author Kaile Smith, a doctoral candidate in Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center. “What surprised us is that for creative practitioners, there can be a next-day emotional cost — even when the same-day effects are positive. That doesn’t mean creativity is harmful; it suggests the emotional rhythm of creative work may be different when creating is central to your life and livelihood.”
‘Hangover’ vs. glow
To move beyond generic ideas of “happiness,” the researchers utilised the PERMA model of well-being, which evaluates flourishing across five pillars: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment.
While all participants reported feeling better across multiple areas on days they were highly creative, the researchers discovered a stark contrast in how they felt 24 hours later:
- Professionals experienced a hangover: Creative practitioners reported more negative emotions the day after high creative engagement.
- Casual creators carried the glow: Hobbyists tended to carry the benefits into the next day, reporting better moods and improved relationships. Furthermore, for the casual group, having lower well-being actually predicted more creativity the following day, a pattern not seen in the professionals.
Despite the next-day emotional cost, the study noted that professional creatives actually started out with higher baseline well-being overall, particularly in feeling absorbed, connected to others, and possessing a sense of meaning.
Rethinking the ‘tortured artist’
“Creative professionals are often under intense pressure — to perform, to produce, and to evaluate their own work,” explained Jennifer Drake, a psychology professor at the CUNY Graduate Center and Brooklyn College, and the study’s senior author. “This study shows why blanket claims like ‘creativity is always good for you’ miss important nuance.”
The authors suggest that these findings complicate the familiar “tortured artist” narrative. Recognising this unique emotional rhythm could help inform clinical approaches, wellness strategies, and mental health support specifically tailored for professionals in the creative arts.
