Title: Could openness become the next mindfulness? Fostering state and trait openness
Abstract: The trait of openness to experience is associated with a host of valuable qualities. Traditionally openness has been viewed as a largely fixed aspect of an individual’s personality. This talk explores the possibility that openness is not only a trait but also a state, and that regular engagement in the state can promote the trait. Experimental studies examining the impact of viewing artistic film clips suggests that exposure to art can enhance state openness, leading to increased curiosity, creativity, conceptual expansiveness, and intellectual humility. Additional evidence examining the impact of a smartphone app suggests that simple daily practices such as asking meaningful questions, breaking routines, and finding beauty in the mundane, can induce temporary states of openness, and that the cumulative effect of these experiences results in changes in trait curiosity (a core component of openness). Collectively, these studies suggest that openness could catch on, much as mindfulness has in recent years, as a valuable trait that can be cultivated by regularly engaging in the state.