Navigating the Pandemic: How Thinking Strategies Shape Well-Being

Abstract In our paper, we investigate whether there is a relationship between well-being and adaptive-convergent and exaptive-divergent thinking. In other words, the central question of our paper is to what extent different coping strategies, borrowed from evolutionary biology, influence the level of subjective well-being during the coronavirus pandemic. For the empirical examination of our question, we collected data from 998 individuals, representing the Hungarian population over 18 years of age. To examine the relationships between the factors under investigation, we built four regression models. Our results show that well-being is enhanced by both adaptive-convergent (logical, systematic) and exaptive-divergent (creative, innovative) thinking. Remarkably, these cognitive strategies had a stronger effect on well-being in terms of standardized beta coefficients than age, sex, and even relationship status, highlighting their crucial role in promoting subjective well-being. This relationship is valid even when the effects of the coronavirus epidemic on well-being are excluded, and divergent thinking also helps to make people less affected by the pandemic. These findings underscore the importance of cultivating cognitive flexibility and the capacity to engage in both systematic problem-solving and creative exploration for maintaining and enhancing well-being, particularly in the face of major societal challenges.