The present study examined the effect of distant temporal distance on creative thinking and the underlying motivation mechanism. We tested our hypotheses in four studies. In Studies 1-4, participants in the distant temporal distance opposed to the proximal temporal distance performed better on a series of creative thinking tasks: the Alternate Uses Task (Study 1), the Chinese Remote Associates Test (Study 2), the Toy Design Task (Study 3) and the Ad Evaluation Task (Study 4). Moreover, Studies 2 and 3 found (...) that promotion motivation mediated the beneficial effect of distant temporal distance on the performance of the two creative thinking tasks. In conclusion, distant temporal distance facilitated creative thinking, and promotion motivation mediated this beneficial effect. (shrink)

The present study examined the longitudinal association among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 481 Chinese university students were surveyed three times by using the Chinese version of the Big Five Personality Traits Scale, Maladaptive Cognitions Scale, and Internet Addiction Scale. The results of a cross-lagged panel analysis highlighted that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were negatively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction, whereas neuroticism was found to be (...) positively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction across time; associations among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction were dynamic and bidirectional; and maladaptive cognitions played mediating roles in extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and Internet addiction across time. The Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction predicted each other across time, and maladaptive cognitions were likely to be the key mediating factor in the associations between the Big Five personality traits and Internet addiction, which supported and expanded the Davis’ cognitive–behavioral model. (shrink)