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PubMed2000

Creativity. Cognitive, personal, developmental, and social aspects.

Although many psychologists have expressed an interest in the phenomenon of creativity, psychological research on this topic did not rapidly expand until after J. P. Guilford claimed, in his 1950 APA presidential address, that this topic deserved far more attention than it was then receiving. This article reviews the progress psychologists have made in understanding creativity since Guilford's call to arms. Research progress has taken place on 4 fronts: the cognitive processes involved in the creative act, the distinctive characteristics of the creative person, the development and manifestation of creativity across the individual life span, and the social environments most strongly associated with creative activity. Although some important questions remain unanswered, psychologists now know more than ever before about how individuals achieve this special and significant form of optimal human functioning.

Creativity↗

PubMed1998

Can the promise of reward increase creativity?

Two experiments, involving 436 preadolescent schoolchildren, investigated how the explicitness of promised reward affects creativity. In the first study, the nonspecific promise of reward increased the creativity of picture drawing if children had previously received divergent-thinking training (generating novel uses for physical objects). In the second study, promised reward increased the creativity of children's drawings if current task instructions clarified the necessity of creative performance. Promised reward evidently increases creativity if there is currently, or was previously, an explicit positive relationship between creativity and reward.

Child↗

PubMed2001

When openness to experience and conscientiousness are related to creative behavior: an interactional approach.

This study adopted an interactional approach to understanding how 2 of the Five-Factor traits, openness to experience and conscientiousness, are related to creative behavior in the workplace. Openness to experience is theorized to result in high levels of creative behavior and conscientiousness is theorized to result in low levels of creative behavior when the situation allows for the manifestation of the trait influences. More specifically, the authors hypothesized that openness to experience would result in high levels of creative behavior if feedback valence were positive and job holders were presented with a heuristic task that allowed them to be creative. The authors also hypothesized that conscientiousness would result in low levels of creative behavior if supervisors engaged in close monitoring and coworkers were unsupportive. The authors tested their hypotheses in a sample of office workers, and 5 out of the 6 hypotheses were supported.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Creativity: the fuel of innovation.

Market-leveled changes occurring in the health care industry require new and creative models of organization, management, and service delivery. One of today's primary management challenges is the development of organizational cultures that value innovation, change, and creativity. The adoption of an ethic of innovativeness allows the organization to stretch the limits of individual and collective knowledge, skill, and ability to meet complex consumer needs. Creativity within organizations is influenced by management practices in conjunction with creativity-relevant work group skills. A common wisdom exists that professional nurses are creative in finding solutions for complex patient care needs. The expansion of this creativity within organizational systems will allow for the evolution of professional nursing practice, improvement in care delivery, and organizational performance.

Creativity↗

PubMed1999

Individual differences in emotional creativity: structure and correlates.

The structure and correlates of emotional creativity were explored in a series of six studies, using a specially constructed measure of individual differences--the Emotional Creativity Inventory (ECI). Analyses of the ECI suggest that three facets of emotional creativity can be distinguished empirically as well as theoretically, namely, preparedness (understanding and learning from one's own and others' emotions), novelty (the ability to experience unusual emotions), and effectiveness/authenticity (the skill to express emotions adroitly and honestly). Women score higher than men on emotional preparedness and effectiveness/authenticity, but not on the novelty of their responses. People who score high on the ECI are considered by their peers to be more emotionally creative, presumably on the basis of everyday behavior. Associations between emotional creativity as measured by the ECI and a variety of other personality variables (including the Big Five personality traits, mysticism, self-esteem, authoritarianism, locus of control, alexithymia, and ways of coping) are examined, as is the relation between emotional creativity and prior traumatic experiences.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Lateralization of defense mechanisms related to creative functioning.

Eighty-four undergraduate students were randomly divided into left and right visual half-field groups. They were tested in either visual half-field with a percept-genetic test of anxiety and defense mechanisms (the MCT). The subjects also took a test of creative functioning (the CFT) and degree of lateralization in the MCT was related to level of creativity in the CFT. Subjects low in creativity were significantly lateralized on measures typical for the right visual half-field group (isolation and repression) and tended to differ on a left visual half-field measure (regressive strategies). For high creative subjects no differences were found between the visual half-field groups. Also, high creative persons more often responded with non-hemisphere-specific defenses than low creative ones. The results were interpreted as due to differing levels of transmission of information between the two hemispheres of the brain.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Culture and creativity.

The relationship between cultural and creative expression is complex. Cultural factors clearly have a profound influence on appropriate outlets for creative expression, on the nature of the subject matter and form of expression, on the functions that various forms of expression serve, and on the types of individuals selected for, or engaged in, creative activity. There are many different ways by which societies shape all aspects of creative expression, ranging from the availability of resources to the provision of rewards or punishments. It also becomes apparent that the association of creativity with originality is largely a Western outlook and that artistic achievements in other cultures do not necessarily have this requirement. Despite the powerful impact of culture on the creative expression of individuals, this relationship is often reciprocal. For whatever reasons, there tend to be individuals in all societies who challenge the cultural norm and societal tradition, despite the consequences, and who thereby help to shape the nature and form of art.

Art↗

PubMed1998

Creativity and mental illness: is there a link?

OBJECTIVE: To critically assess the scientific evidence for associating creativity with mental illness. METHOD: MEDLINE and secondary literature searches identified 29 studies and 34 review articles on creativity and mental illness. All studies were critically evaluated. Reviews were also assessed. RESULTS: Of 29 studies that evaluated possible associations between creativity and mental illness, 15 found no evidence to link creativity and mental illness, 9 found positive evidence, and 5 had unclear findings. Most studies used flawed methodologies with weak (case series or case control) designs. There were no randomized or prospective cohort studies. Adequate criteria for determining causal association were not met. In 34 selective reviews, despite mixed evidence, many authors asserted that creativity and mental illness were positively or causally associated. CONCLUSIONS: There is limited scientific evidence to associate creativity with mental illness. Despite this, many authors promoted a connection. Explanations for this contradiction are explored, and social and research implications are discussed.

Creativity↗

PubMed1976

A comparative study of attentional strategies of schizophrenic and highly creative normal subjects.

Frequent references have been made to the similarities between highly creative and psychotic thinking. This study attempts to test the hypothesis that one explanation for such a correspondence lies in the fact that individuals in both these populations habitually employ common attentional strategies which cause them to sample an unusually wide range of available environmental stimuli. A group of highly creative adults and a group of equally intelligent but low creative adults were compared with a group of acute non-paranoid schizophrenic adults on three tests designed to assess attentional and other cognitive styles. The results offer support to the view that both highly creative and schizophrenic individuals habitually sample a wider range of available environmental input than do less creative individuals. In the case of the schizophrenic this involuntary widening of attention tends to have a deleterious effect on performance, while, in contrast, the highly creative individual is more able to successfully process the greater input without this incurring a performance deficit.

Achievement↗

PubMed1976

Creativity and body image boundaries.

Descriptions of the creative individual or the individual who can regress in the service of the ego seem to parallel Fisher and Cleveland's (1968) description of the high barrier individual: well-integrated; self-sufficient, but often outgoing and communicative; and able to experience a full range of sensation and emotions without neurotic anxiety. The relationships between Barrier and five measures associated with creativity were investigated, using 100 paid male college student volunteers. The results support the notion that creativity is not a functional unity. Barrier was found to be related to aristic, expressive creativity which seems to be related to interest in human interactions, but unrelated to creativity associated with scientific endeavors and unrelated to creative receptivity (i.e., purest adaptive regression).

Art↗

PubMed1989

Changes in creativity with age: data, explanations, and further predictions.

Changes in creativity with age, it is argued, seem very probable. A variety of personal qualities usually found in creative people are examined. While conclusive evidence is sometimes lacking, it seems likely that most of these would change with age so as to affect creative productivity, usually adversely. Moreover, many theories of creativity representing a variety of intellectual traditions are discussed, and most of these predict aging decrements of some sort. However, it is also suggested that the creativity decline may vary, being more pronounced a) when the attribute of originality is predominant, b) in the sciences, as opposed to the arts and humanities, c) when certain motives, notably self-expression and sublimation of sexuality, are operative, and d) for male as compared to female creators. Finally, creativity may simply change rather than decline with age, with differing stylistic and thematic concerns gaining priority.

Aging↗

PubMed1991

Effect of alcohol on quantity of creative production using the Purdue tests.

An experiment was performed to test whether a moderate dose of alcohol (1 ml of 100% alcohol/kg body weight) facilitates the production of creative solutions as measured with a standard creativity test and whether a creative attitude interacts with alcohol in this respect. The 60 subjects were randomly assigned to either an alcohol, a placebo, or a control group, with 10 women and 10 men in each group. Two different personality tests measuring the creative attitude were administered a priori. Analysis indicated that both the placebo and alcohol groups produced significantly less creative solutions to the ten stimulus pictures. The a priori attitude scores significantly predicted the creativity scores for the placebo and alcohol subjects but not for the control subjects. Results were discussed in terms of disinhibition and cognitive changes under alcohol.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Creativity and the management team.

What is creativity? Is it an untempered gift found only in a few rare individuals? Or, is it a skill that can be developed in the people who make up your management team? As applied to medical group practice, creativity is a process through which the management team can originate ideas for responding to a complicated environment. To be effective, creativity must be fostered in individuals and in the organization. Drawing from lessons of successful corporations, the author examines the management styles which are conducive to creativity and innovation. Strong team management and proper orientation of new staff members are essential in building a foundation for creativity. To assist medical groups, key elements that are fundamental to fostering creativity in the organization are presented.

Creativity↗

PubMed1988

Right-brain techniques: a catalyst for creative thinking and internal focusing. A study of five writers and six psychotherapists.

Comparing the scientific reports of brain researchers such as Sperry, Bogen, Diamond, Geschwind, and Hoppe with the subjective reports of high achievers in various fields of the arts, sciences, and industry reveals that there is a correlation between creative thinking and right hemisphere specialization. Learning how to stimulate right hemisphere activity can be of great benefit to high achievers in fields that require one to be internally focused, to be sensitive to the intonations of voice and body-language, to comprehend symbols and metaphors, to think visually and holistically, to work constructively with affect, or to enhance imaginative thinking. This report is a subjective study of how five writers and six psychotherapists experienced one three-hour session of Inner Vision techniques, which I developed to stimulate creative thinking and inner focusing by enhancing right hemisphere activity. During the session, all of the psychotherapists and all but one of the writers reported that these mental imagery exercises produced a significant increase in the flow of creative ideas and enabled them to gain insights into important personal issues. One writer experienced resistance; two psychotherapists reported feelings of solace; two writers and two psychotherapists indicated that they have gained new perspectives on professional issues--one writer solved a major problem regarding the central character in his book; six psychotherapists and three writers gained new perceptions on important personal issues; five psychotherapists and four writers reported feelings of intense joy, even liberation, during the session. All eleven participants indicated that they had experienced vivid and imaginative imagery. The constructive use of imagination is essential for creative work and mental health. Writers who have the skill to program their imaginations to gain creative insights at times of their own choosing obviously will be more productive than writers who sit around waiting for the benevolent muse. Psychotherapists who use Inner Vision techniques in their own lives find that it is a valuable tool for interior focusing; those who use it with their patients have reported that this is a practical, effective technique for helping patients attain greater psychologic integration. An important way in which this program differs from other imagery techniques is that the vivid imagery of the right-hemisphere work is followed by left-brain analysis and evaluation. The ultimate goal is the transformational intercallosal process of symbollexia--the "magic synthesis" of right-brain and left-brain specialization for an enhanced ability to live and work creatively.

Affect↗

PubMed1985

[Creativeness and performance strengths in schizophrenic patients].

Three positions concerning empirically detectable associations between (endogenous) psychosis and creativity are discussed: One which postulates a degeneration both in psychosis and creative people, another which tends to equalize creativity and psychosis and a third one which regards creativity as positive and psychosis as an illness. The latter position is well in accord with empirical results. These results are pointing to something which creativity has in common with psychosis. This common conditioning factor is probably a distinctive cognitive style and, depending on the specific context, presents itself either in a positive way (creativity) or as psychotic disorganisation.

Achievement↗

PubMed1983

Creativity in management in family medicine.

Family practice presents some complex patient management problems with organic, social, and psychological components. There is a great potential for creative problem solving in such patient management problems, in that many alternative solutions are possible. A cross-sectional study was carried out to test the hypothesis that "more creative people as defined by a standard creativity test would have a better quality of management." Sixteen volunteers from the University of Western Ontario Family Practice Residency Program completed a written management problem and the Barron Welsh Art Scale, which is a measure of a person's preference for complexity. The number of options given in each answer was calculated, and the results showed that more creative residents had a higher quality of management score, a higher number of high-quality options, more options of an interpersonal nature, and a higher proportion of original options. The results suggest that creative people are more able to generate the number and types of options that are needed for quality management. The higher proportion of original options may represent a more comprehensive approach to management, and the creative groups' preference for complexity may enable them to deal more effectively with the problem. These results are not generalizable but indicate a need for further investigation into this area.

Creativity↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Temperament as a prerequisite of creative capabilities].

Temperamental and creative characteristics were compared in three groups of subjects who manifested a bent for creative activity. The groups differed in their age: 14-year-old schoolchildren of architectural class (n = 20), 18 to 20-year-old students of architectural institute (n = 94), and 25 to 45-year-old professional architects (n = 25). The temperamental properties were measured using the STQ method. The creative characteristics were evaluated by E. P. Torrance's non-verbal tests of creative thinking. In the structure of creative abilities, only two creative characteristics, i.e., fluency and flexibility, correlated at the statistically significant level with temperamental properties in all the age-specific groups under study. The closest correlations were found with plasticity and emotionality of temperament both in object-related and subject-related spheres.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

On the relationship between the creative and social-emotional development of emotionally handicapped children.

Examined the relationship between the creative and social-emotional development of emotionally handicapped children (N = 78). The question of primary interest was whether changes in social emotional development over the course of treatment would parallel changes in creativity. Two samples of emotionally handicapped children were rated on their mastery of social-emotional objectives and were given similar forms of a creativity test at the beginning and end of an 8-week period. In both samples a significant relationship was found between changes in social-emotional status and creativity. Creative and social-emotional changes occurred independently of most variables known about a child at the beginning of treatment. Possible explanations and implications of this relationship are discussed.

Affective Symptoms↗