The “DIY” Maker Movement as a Pathway to Subjective Well-Being

Widespread internet usage, ecological conscientiousness, and economic downturn in the early 21^stcentury, created the perfect conditions for the “maker movement” to be born... 

Even as the name eludes many, we are nearly all familiar with the plethora of creative activities under the “maker” umbrella: Cooking and baking, sewing and art-making – chances are many of us have dabbled in these do-it-yourself activities throughout our lives, but how many of us consider them reliable pastimes? Much less, how many of us would consider ourselves to be true “DIY’ers” or “makers”?

Don’t yet consider yourself a part of the trend? It may be time to rethink that…

Research from 2018 by Anne Collier and Heidi Wayment suggests there’s more to this “maker movement” than simply exploring new recipes and repairing electronics; do-it-yourself activities appear to have the capacity for emotional repair as well! Better yet, no fancy tools are required for the latter – merely identifying as a “maker” and investing time in a do-it-yourself activity correlates with improved psychological wellbeing. With as few as three hours a week dedicated to a creative activity, one can reap these unexpected rewards.

Collier and Wayment surveyed 465 college students about personal traits, plus their attitudes and participation towards do-it-yourself activities. These consisted of domestic tasks like cooking or gardening, art activities, craft activities, and more technical activities like metalworking or tinkering with electronics. Most college students however, spent their time performing domestic activities – three hours a week on average. They’re the ones which many of us can best relate to; if only because domestic activities perform an immediately useful function in our everyday lives (such as cooking dinner or baking desserts). 

Indeed, there are few things more quotidian than cooking...

but nevertheless, prior research from 2011 suggests it’s our conception of such activities that puts domestic ones on the same footing as the “true” DIY ones: Metalworking, quilting, and cooking all have at least one thing in common; they can inspire empowerment, accomplishment, engagement, meaning, and pleasure. In particular, the latter three help cultivate the ideal lifestyle: Meaningful activities make life purposeful. Engagement promotes a sense of flow; whereby one is fully invested in and captivated by an activity. Finally, self-directed activities tend to be pleasurable ones eliciting positive moods – after all, what good is your free time if it’s spent in frustration? Now that’s not to say every DIY project turns out the way we expect it to; there’s nothing pleasurable about confusing baking soda for baking powder in a recipe. I can personally attest to the misgivings of maker activities; prior to writing this article I was welding the frame of my new greenhouse, and an hour into the job I noticed some mistakes that amounted to hours of work down the idiomatic drain. I was angry, I was upset; I was emotionally aroused to put it in proper psychology terms. Yet even then, value could be found in my frustration…

With all of this in mind, Collier and Wayment hypothesized

 that a maker identity - regardless of the maker activity - 

can facilitate a pathway to personal, subjective well-being. 

Additionally, it was also hypothesized that ruminating about bad past experiences would impede the emotional repair that maker activities appear capable of. As it turns out, the findings are in favour of this central idea that maker activities improve psychological wellbeing – albeit with some interesting caveats. The trifecta of meaning, engagement, and pleasure, does indeed provide a quick and effective pathway towards subjective wellbeing. Likewise, it’s this trifecta that maker activities uniquely excel at. Of course, while all these activities can be pleasurable, some are certainly more rejuvenating than others. As the researchers discovered; ruminating on negative thoughts provided one of the main barriers to achieving wellbeing through maker activities. Unfortunately, the first caveat of this research suggests that individuals prone to ruminating on negative thoughts won’t feel the positive effects of maker activities nearly as much as their non-ruminating peers. Nevertheless, I can’t imagine most students would want to go home after a stressful day and arc weld – especially if distracted by one’s own thoughts while attempting such an intensive task. Luckily for them; it’s those more common, domestic activities, which are most rejuvenating. 

 

It’s also where the second of two caveats lies: pleasure was strongly correlated with activities that were both rejuvenating and arousing. As one might expect, baking a delicious dessert is arousing in the positive sense. As one might also expect, my previous welding example was infuriating to say the least – certainly arousing in the negative sense. Yet, after the frustration (the physical arousal) had subsided, cognitive arousal dominated: Importantly for myself, I learned to troubleshoot the problem by decreasing the amperage of my welder. More importantly for you; it speaks to Collier’s and Wayment’s most startling finding yet: The two researchers found that negative arousal is in fact beneficial in maker activities. At first glance, this appears to go against a litany of literature on the subject. Nevertheless, negative arousal still invigorates the maker; promoting critical thought and forcing attention on the task at hand. In turn, this increases engagement and can even reduce the negative effects of rumination.

So, while you may mix up an ingredient or two in your next meal, or leave the lens-cap on your camera, don’t stop. Conquer the problem and learn from your mistakes, but most importantly; have fun while doing it! If you love making something – even if you’re only making it for a mere three hours each week – chances are you can still reap the amazing and indirect rewards of do-it-yourself activities.

Source:

Collier, A. F., & Wayment, H. A. (2018). Psychological Benefits of the “Maker” or Do-It-Yourself Movement in Young Adults: A Pathway Towards Subjective Well-Being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(4), 1217-1239.