We already know that having a job can improve mental health, but findings suggest that creative hobbies can make life feel even more worthwhile
By Corryn Wetzel
16 August 2024
Creative hobbies provide us with a sense of self-expression and progress
Botany vision/Alamy
Engaging in arts and crafts boosts your mental well-being and improves the sense that life is worthwhile. These activities have a positive effect that is as strong or stronger than the mental health improvements that come with being employed.
Decades of research have shown that health, income and employment status are major factors in predicting people’s satisfaction with their lives. However, researchers at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK wanted to investigate what other activities or circumstances might improve mental health. “I was really drawn to looking into whether crafting might be good for your well-being because it’s so accessible, affordable and it’s already popular,” says Helen Keyes.
Read more
The new evidence that explains what anxiety really is
Advertisement
Keyes and her colleagues analysed more than 7000 responses to the annual Taking Part Survey, which asks people in England how they engage with activities such as arts and culture, sports and internet use. All participants were also asked about their happiness, anxiety, loneliness, life satisfaction and if they felt their life was worthwhile.
More than a third of participants said they had done at least one art or craft activity in the previous year, including pottery, painting, knitting, photography, film-making, woodworking or jewellery-making. Even after accounting for factors like health and employment status, researchers found that engaging in arts and crafts was associated with higher scores across their measures of mental health.
The bump was modest – around 0.2 on a 10-point scale – but crafting was a stronger predictor that someone felt their life was worthwhile compared with harder-to-change factors such as having a job.