essay 8 pagess

creativity, self-actua I ization, and you

[Scene : Enchanted forest home of two lovable gnomes, Rodney Dangergnome and Gnome Rickles . The dear friends are trying to help each other with difficult personal problems.]

Gnome Rickles: Look, dummy, you can' t sit around all yer life sweatin' an ' straightenin' yer tie an' mumblin' ''I don't get no respect! I don't get no respect!" Of course you don't get no respect. Yer a failure! Ya gotta get self-actualized an' realize yer potential-like me!

Rodney Dangergnome (Straightenin' his tie): You dunno how tough it's been, Rickles. When I wuz a kid even my mother said she just liked me as a friend! An ' I couldn't play hide an' seek 'cause nobody wanted to find me!

Rickles: Maybe it's yer creativity, fish face! Have you ever though of usin ' yer imagination? Tryin' to solve a problem once in a while? An' yer personality! Yer neurotic! Self-actualized people ain't neurotic!

Dangergnome: Okay, okay, I'll be self-actualized! But it ain't easy bein' well-adjusted when you're me. My dad took me to the chimp cage at the zoo, an' the zookeeper said "Thanks for bringin' 'im back!" Last week my psychiatrist said I was crazy. I tol' him I wanted a second opinion, so he said I was ugly, too!

Rickles: Just one more time, nincompoop! I'll talk slow. Try to read my lips . Ya gotta be more creative, more confident , better adjusted, an' ya gotta develop yer skills as much as ya can. I don't expect much, yer too stupid . But ya gotta give it a try!

Dangergnome: Watch it, Rickles! You ain't exactly Prince Charmin', ya know what I mean? Next to you, a sore rattlesnake is a beautiful person! I got problems! When I was a teenager my girlfriend said "Sure, come on over . Nobody's home." So I went over, an' nobody was home!

Rickles: Tell you what! Let's both sit down . You keep yer yap shut, an ' let's read Chapter 1 together! Real careful like!

The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.

1

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Albert Einstein

2 Chapter One

Self-Actualization Is Profoundly Important Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers

Creativity Is Part of Self-Actualization

Moustakis Agrees

Creativity Is a Lifestyle

Relationship of Creativity to Self-Actualization Is Now Common Assumption

SELF-ACTUALIZATION AND CREATIVITY One of the most profoundly important concepts in the field of creativity is the

relationship between creativity and self-actualization. Humanistic psychologists Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers describe self-actualization as using all of one's talents to become what one is capable of becoming-actualizing one's potential. Further, the self-actualizing person is mentally healthy, self-accepting, forward growing, fully functioning, democratic minded, and more. In Maslow's (1954) words, self-actualization "refers to our desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for a person to become actualized in what he or she is potentially ... the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is ca- pable of becoming ... what one can be, one must be." After fourteen years of thought, Maslow (1968, p. 138) added, ''We are dealing with a fundamental char- acteristic, inherent in human nature, a potentiality given to all or most human beings at birth, which most often is lost or buried or inhibited as the person gets enculturated." Maslow further observed that self-actualization includes an ever- increasing move toward unity, integration, and synergy within the person.

Look carefully at Maslow's description of self-actualized people in Inset 1.1. The thoughtful reader may agree that few things in life are more important that one's self.:.actualiza tion .

Rogers (1962) tied self-actualization to creativity with these words: ''The main- spring of creativity appears to be the same tendency which we discover so deeply as the curative force in psychotherapy-one's tendency to actualize oneself, to become one's potentialities ... the urge to expand, extend, develop, mature-- the tendency to express and activate all of the capabilities of the organism" (pp. 65--66). In a scientifically cautious statement, Maslow (1971, p. 57) similarly noted "the concept of creativeness and the concept of the healthy, self-actualizing , fully human person seem to be coming closer and closer together, and may turn out to be the same thing."

To add further credibility to this paramount relationship, Clark Moustakis (1967), another early humanistic psychologist, wrote that "It is this experience of expressing and actualizing one's individual identity in an integrated form in communication and with one's self, with nature, and with other persons that I call creative."

Creativeness is not identical to mentally-healthy self-actualization; however, it is an important component. Further, the more you come to define creativity as a lifestyle--a way of living and perceiving-the greater is the overlap . Creativity clearly is more than producing zany ideas in art, science, business, and on diver- gent thinking tests.

Popular Use of "Self-Actualization and Creativity''

In recent decades the bond between self-actualization and creative development has caught on to the point where the relationship is both a semantic trend and vir - tually a given. For example, Moyer and Wallace (1995) argued that the role of edu- cation is not to foster compliance, but to develop the self-actualization that springs from individuality and creative growth. Weiner (1992) stressed a mentor's role in heightening students' anticipation, expectations, individuality, and value--and cre- ativity and self-actualization. Weaver (1990) described techniques to increase the "growth"-job-satisfaction, life-satisfaction, creativity, and self-actualization-of university faculty. We need it. Under the umbrella of aging individuals, radio- journalist Goldman (1991) described her "late bloomers" program that fosters life- long learning-and self-esteem, self-actualization, and creativity. Kastenbaum (1991)

"Growth" Theory of Creativity

Flow: Involvement and Enjoyment

Creativity, Self-Actualiza.tion, and You 3

Inset 1.1 Maslow's 15 Characteristics of Self-Actualized People

According to Maslow, self-actualized people:

• Perceive reality more accurately and objectively. They are not threatened by the unknown, and tolerate and even like ambiguity.

• Are spontaneous, natural, and genuine. • Are problem-centered, not self-centered or egotistical. They have a philosophy of

life and probably a mission in life. • Can concentrate intensely. They need more privacy and solitude than do others. • Are independent, self-sufficient, and autonomous. They have less need for popu-

larity or praise. • Have the capacity to appreciate again and again simple and common-place expe-

riences. They have a zest in living and an ability to handle stress. • Have (and are aware of) their rich, alive, and intensely enjoyable "peak

experiences"-moments of intense enjoyment. • Have a high sense of humor, which tends to be thoughtful, philosophical, and con-

structive (not destructive). • Form strong friendship ties with relatively few people, yet are capable of greater

love. • Accept themselves, others, and human nature. • Are strongly ethical and moral in individual (not necessarily conventional) ways.

They are benevolent and altruistic. • Are democratic and unprejudiced in the deepest possible sense. They have deep

feelings of brotherhood with all mankind. • Enjoy the work in achieving a goal as much as the goal itself. They are patient, for

the most part. • Are capable of detachment from their culture, and can objectively compare cul-

tures. They can take or leave conventions. • Are creative, original, and inventive, with a fresh, naive, simple, and direct way of

looking at life. They tend to do most things creatively, but do not necessarily pos- sess great talent.

Is it important to develop your self-actualized creativity?

noted that for many senior citizens, creativity and self-actualization continue into later years-they remain open to new experiences, have healthy creative attitudes, and engage in creative activities.

The self-actualization approach has been named a growth theory of creativity (e.g., Treffinger, Isaksen & Firestien, 1982), since one grows-or should grow-in self-actualization and creativity.

Flow, Entrepreneurship, and Self-Actualization

Csikszentrnihalyi' s (pronounced "Smith's"; 1990b) best-selling book Flow tries to describe solutions for nothing less than our search for happiness. "Flow" is involv- ing oneself with an activity to such an extent that nothing else seems to matter- the experience itself is intensely enjoyable. Activities that consistently produce flow,

•

4 Chapter One

Entrepreneurship: Freedom, Involvement, and Enjoyment

Measures of Self-Actualization: POI, POD, SI, ROSE, ROSY

Maslow's Need Hierarchy and the Maslowian Scale

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noted Smith, are sports, games, art, and hobbies. Further, experts such as artists, athletes, musicians, chess masters, or surgeons experience flow because they are doing exactly what they want to do. It sounds disarmingly simple. Smith also em- phasized personal dedication, experiencing exhilaration from taking control of our lives, and the 11direct control of experience-the ability to derive moment-by- moment enjoyment from everything we do. 11 According to Gardner's (1993, p. 25-26) interpretation, "those 'in flow'" ... feel that they have been fully alive, to- , tally realized, and involved in a 'peak experience.'" Does flow relate directly to Maslow' s self-actualization?

There is also literature on entrepreneurship with main points that seem identical to Smith's fl.ow. For example, Solomon and Winslow (1988) define an entrepre- neur as "one who starts and is successful in a venture and/ or project that leads to profit (monetary or personal) or benefits society." Rather than great wealth, entre- preneurs described the best thing about being an entrepreneur as, for example, 11 Freedom to test my ideas and the pleasure of seeing the fruits of my labor" and "Being in complete control of my professional and personal life." They defined success as 11Doing what I like to do," "Having control over my own destiny," "Being happy with myself, doing things I enjoy," and "Seeing my baby live and grow." Does entrepreneurship resemble Csikszentmihalyi's flow experience? Do both smack of self-actualization and creativity?

Research Relating Self-Actualization and Creativity

The relationship between creativity, on one hand, and mentally healthy, democratic-minded, and forward-growing self-actualization, on the other, has lent itself nicely to empirical research. The obvious research question is: Does the relationship exist or not?

As background, the main measure of Maslow's self-actualization has been Shostrom's (1963) Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) and slightly newer Personal Orientation Dimensions (POD; Shostrom, 1975).1 Crandall, McCoun, and Robb (1988) described a shortened version-just 15 items-of the POI entitled the Short Inventory of Self-Actualization (SI). Buckmaster created the 80-item college-level Reflections on Self and Environment (ROSE) inventory (Buckmaster & Davis, 1985). For younger students, Schatz and Buckmaster (1984) built the 62-item Reflections on Self by Youth (ROSY). Both the ROSE and the ROSY inventories were based directly on Maslow's 15 characteristics described in Inset 1.1, and both used a rating-scale format.

Now Maslow's (1970) best-known concept is his motivational or 11need" hier- archy. Beginning at the bottom, seven levels include physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, needs for esteem, needs to know and understand, aesthetic needs, and at the top, needs for self-actualization. According to Maslow, lower level needs must be met before one addresses higher levels of needs. The Maslowian Scale (Lewis, 1993) is a brief, twelve-question test based on this hier- archy that produces a total score reflecting movement toward self-actualization.

Turning to the research, college students' scores on the ROSE measure of self- actualization (Buckmaster & Davis, 1985) were compared with their scores on a shortened version of the creativity inventory How Do You Think? (HOYT; Davis, 1975, 1991a; described in Chapter 10), which measures personality and biographi- cal characteristics of creative people. The statistical correlation between scores on the two inventories was a whopping .73 (on a scale of O to 1.0). Almost every

1The POI was considered by Maslow himself to be a sensible test of self-actualization. It has nothing to do with Hawaiian dining.

High Creativity = High Self-Actualization

Creativity and Self-Actualization Items Cluster Together

Higher Self- Actualization = Better Adjustment

Creativity Plus Intelligence: Highest Self-Actualization

Can You Name Some Neurotic, Highly Creative People?

Special Talent Creativity

May or May Not Be Self-Actualized in Mentally Healthy Sense

Creativity, Self-Actualization, and You 5

individual who scored high in self-actualization also scored high in creativity and vice versa, despite the fact that the inventories were constructed based on two supposedly different sets of concepts and literature. Trust me, I was there. Also with college students, Runco, Ebersole, and Mraz (1991) found that intercorrela- tions between subscales of the HDYr (Davis & Subkoviak, 1978) and the Short Inventory of Self-Actualization again showed good relationships between cre- ativity and self-actualization. The energetic originality and arousal and risk-taking subscales were the best predictors of SI scores (rs = .42 and .46, respectively).

Research with 302 grade 4, 5, and 6 students who took the ROSY focused on test item interrelationships and clusters (Schatz & Buckmaster, 1984). One main cluster was entitled perceptions, with items relating to perceptions of oneself as creative (e.g., ''I have a good imagination," "I like to try new and different things," and "I am creative, I can think of many new or unusual ideas"). Importantly, other test items in this same cluster reflected other components of self-actualization (e.g., '1 am fair to everyone when I work and play," ''I speak my opinions without worrying about being right or wrong," and "I can laugh at myself'). Concluded the authors, their research with the ROSY "further confirms the relationship between self- actualization and creativity." And we're talking nine- to eleven-year old children.

Lewis, Karnes, and Knight (1995) administered the ROSY, the Maslowian Scale, and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, basically a measure of healthy personality adjustment, to 368 high IQ students in grades 4 through 12. Everything was related to everything. Scores on the ROSY and the hierarchy- based Maslowian Scale correlated .51. ROSY and the Piers-Harris correlated .43, meaning that the higher their ROSY self-actualization scores, the better were their Piers-Harris self-concept scores.

Earlier, Yonge (1975) had reviewed research showing positive correlations be- tween scores on the POI and various measures of creativity, for example, scores on a creativity scale for the Adjective Check List (Chapter 10). Damm (1970; yes, that's his name) concluded that it helps to be smart, too. While measures of cre- ativity and intelligence each were related to self-actualization scores, the highest levels of self-actualization were reached by his high school students who were both creative and intelligent.

This sample of research confirms that creativity and self-actualization are in- deed related . The next section complicates the issue.

SELF-ACTUALIZED CREATIVITY AND SPECIAL TALENT CREATIVITY

It may or may not have occurred to the thoughtful reader that many world- class creative people have been extraordinarily neurotic-not at all self-actualized in the mentally healthy sense. History is full of neurotic creative geniuses. The names of Vincent van Gogh and Edgar Allen Poe come to mind, and perhaps Beethoven, Mozart, Howard Hughes, Judy Garland, John Belushi, Janis Joplin, and introvert Yves St. Laurent. (Can you think of others?)

The solution to this apparent dilemma lies in Maslow's (1954) perceptive dis- tinction between self-actualized versus special talent creative people. By now you should understand the notion of a general, self-actualized creativeness. In con- trast, special talent creative people--by definition-possess an extraordinary cre- ative talent in art, literature, music, theater, science, business, or other area. These people could be well-adjusted and live reasonably happy, self-actualized exis- tences. Or they might be neurotic and miserable in their personal, professional, and social lives. As we will see in Chapter 5, a long-standing and continuing litera - ture relates high creativity to psychopathology (e.g., Barron, 1969; Kaufman, 2001;

6 Chapter One

Creativity and Psychopathology?

Everyday Creativity, Eminent Creativity, Happy Clowns

Three Implications

Self-Actualized Creative People May Not Have a Great Creative Talent

Highlights Importance of Affective Traits

Creative Thinking Is a Way of Living

Richards, 1990; Richards et al., 1988), for example, among entrepreneurs (Solomon & Winslow, 1988), regular college students (Schuldberg, 1990), and most notably artists and writers, especially poets (Ludwig, 1995).

Probably identical to Maslow's self-actualized and special talent creativity , Richards (1990) distinguished between individuals who possess everyday creativ- ity versus eminent creativity. While the former are mentally healthy, the majority of eminent artists and writers have mental disorders , most often manic-depressive mood swings. Noted Richards, had Vincent van Gogh been given antidepressants he might have painted happy clowns on black velvet.

The following three sections discuss implications of distinguishing between self-actualized and special talent creativity : (1) Living and thinking creatively without having a specific great talent, (2) the core role of personality and affective traits in creativity, and (3) whether creativity must be taught within a subject area. We will look briefly at each.

One Can Be Creative without a Great Creative Talent

The first implication of the distinction between self-actualized and special talent creativity is tucked into Maslow's last item in Inset 1.1. Under no circumstances should the reader stop and look at the last item in Inset 1. 1. Self-actualized creative people are mentally healthy and live full and productive lives; it is a general form of creativeness . Such people tend to approach all aspects of their lives in a flexible, creative fashion. They do not necessarily have an outstanding creative talent in a specific area, for example, one that makes them famous and probably rich. You need not possess exceptional artistic, literary, scientific, or entrepreneurial talent to consider yourself a creative person and live a creative life. It is unfortunate that the word creativity is associated too strongly with the possession of extraordinary, distinquished, and highly visible talent.

Emphasis on Personality and Affective Traits

The second implication is the built-in emphasis on the importance of affective and personality traits-attitudes, motivations, and conscious dispositions to think creatively. Affective traits, not basic intelligence, mark the difference between peo- ple who do or do not use their capabilities in a creative way. We have argued that cre- ativity is a lifestyle, a way of living, a way of perceiving the world, and a way of growing. Living creatively is developing your talents, learning to use your abili- ties, and striving to become what you are capable of becoming. Being creative is exploring new ideas, new places, and new activities. Being creative is developing a sensitivity to problems of others and problems of humankind . Consider Maslow's list in Inset 1.1. Is this what life is-or should be-about?

The humanistic, self-actualization approach to creativity does not focus only on developing one's creative abilities and creative processes. From this theoretical viewpoint , one ' s creative abilities and processes are by-products of a larger, more important growth in self-actualization.

In Chapter 5 we will examine the creative personality more closely. Most of the creative personality characteristics described in that chapter-for example, inde- pendence, adventurousness, curiosity, humor, perceptiveness, open-mindedness- mesh nicely with Maslow's description of self-actualization and with Smith's flow.

Creativity Need Not Be Taught within a Subject Matter

A third implication of the self-actualized versus special talent distinction relates to whether creativity must be taught within a subject area . The matter is a long-standing inaccuracy . For example, Keating (1980) and Schiever and

Self-Actualized Creativity Is Content Free

And May Be Taught and Learned

Creativity Consciousness, Attitudes, Techniques, Abilities

Brainstorming and CPS Model Are Content Free

Special Talent Creativity.Is Taught within a Subject Area

Independent Projects

Teaches Knowledge, Technical Skills, Creativity

Creativity Training May Be in a Content Area or Content Free

Independent Continua

Creativity, Self-Actualization, and You 7

Maker (1997) claim that creativity cannot be taught in the abstract and must be tied to subject matter. The seemingly logical arguments are that students "need something to think about" and that creativity taught in the abstract will not trans- fer to content areas (Schiever and Maker, 1997, p. 113-114). Wrong. Both are realis- tic and effective. Creativity may be taught in a completely abstract, content-free setting, or the training may be embedded within a specific content or subject area, for example, photography or eighteenth-century theater costuming.

Many successful creativity courses, programs, workshops, books, and work- books try to:

• Raise creativity consciousness • Strengthen creative attitudes, such as valuing novel ideas • Teach idea finding and creative problem solving techniques • Strengthen underlying creative abilities through exercise

All creativity courses and workshops stress the nature of creativity and cre- ative persons, and all encourage learners to approach personal, academic, and professional problems in a more creative fashion. This approach to teaching cre- ativity is sensible, common, and effective (e.g., Davis & Bull, 1978; de Bono, 1992a; Edwards, 1968; Parnes, 1978, 1981; Smith, 1985; Stanish, 1979, 1981, 1988; Torrance, 1987b, 1995; von Oech, 1983, 1986). The general approach is characteris- tic of teaching brainstorming and the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) model of the Creative Education Foundation (Chapters 6 and 8).

On the other hand, a goal might well be to strengthen creative thinking and problem solving skills as they relate directly to a specific subject such as creative writing, photography, theater, botany, architecture, astronomy, or dinosaurs. With the typical independent projects approach, students are given (or find) a project or problem and proceed to clarify it, consider various approaches, settle on a project or problem definition, research it, process it, and prepare a project re- port or problem solution. Throughout, students identify and resolve numerous sub-problems, evaluate their methods and results, acquire knowledge, develop technical skills in the content area, and strengthen their creative abilities and skills.

We will see in Chapter 11 that independent projects are a common strategy for teaching academic content, technical skills, and creativity to gifted children. Content-free creativity training also is widely employed, for example, in brain- storming sessions that teach creativity consciousness, receptiveness to wild ideas, suspension of criticism and evaluation, and principles of looking for many ideas and building upon others' ideas.

Self-Actualized and Special Talent Creativity: Two Continua

While Maslow identified the two types-self-actualized and special-talent creativity-it seems more logical that each of the two traits lies on an independent continuum. As illustrated on the horizontal axis of Figure 1. 1, any given person will be low to high in Maslow's general, self-actualized creativity. As we have seen, a person high in this trait takes a creative approach to most aspects of life; it is a way of living, growing, and perceiving one's world, as well as a way of thinking and solving problems. Such a person is mentally healthy, self-accepting, and grows to- ward self-realization. As represented on the vertical axis of Figure 1. 1, a person also may be low to high in recognized creative productivity, Maslow's special talent creativity. By definition, a person high in this dimension has achieved recognition for socially-judged creative achievement, for example, in art, science, or business. He or she may or may not be mentally healthy in the self-actualization sense.

8 Chapter One

Everyone Can Be More Creative

Civilization: History of Creative Ideas

Cottontail Drumstick Anyone?

r

E.g., Vincent van Gogh

Low

E.g., 50-year- old burger flipper

High

General

Low

0

~- 0..

n re a.

E.g., Walt Disney

Creativeness > High g. .... IC < s IC :, ....

E.g., creative teachers, parents

Figure 1.1. Two-dimensional illustration of personal creativeness. A person may be low to high in general creativeness, which is a lifestyle and a thinking style (Maslow's self- actualized creativity), and low to high in recognized creative achievement (Maslow's special-talent creativity).

This broad conception of creativity acknowledges the obvious-that many people think and act creatively, some in just a few areas, some in all areas of their lives, and a handful achieve recognition and eminence. This view also acknowl- edges the truism that everyone has an opportunity to live a more creative life and become a more fulfilled and creatively productive person. The word creative must not be restricted only to persons who have achieved creative eminence, as is claimed by some (Chapters 3 and 4).

CIVILIZATION: A HISTORY OF CREATIVE IDEAS

Because the main purpose of this chapter is to increase awareness of the im- portance of creativity, we might remind the reader that the history of civilization is more than a sequence of famous wars. Civilization is a history of creative ideas that have been modified, combined, transformed, borrowed, and built upon each other into ever new creations. It has happened, and continues to happen, in any area we might look at-art, science, mathematics, technology, education, law, medicine, politics, music, philosophy, agriculture, economics, consumer prod- ucts, and more imaginative ways to conduct those wars. 2 Without creative ideas and creative thinkers, we still would be living in caves and trees, picking berries, and clubbing bunny rabbits for breakfast.

Civilization will continue to have problems and aesthetic needs, and creative people will continue to provide solutions and aesthetic experiences.

2creativity may be used constructively or, regrettably, destructively.

Mystery of Creativity

Lots of Poppycock

Freud's Neurotic Conflict

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Creativity, Self-Actualization, and You 9

"The history of civilization is a history of creative innovation. This machine revolutionized transportation. "It beats walking," muttered Lance Legstrong, "but I wish somebody would in- vents some dang pedals!". (Buster Keaton in "Our Hospitality," 1923. Courtesy of Photofest.)

COMPLEXITY OF CREATIVITY It may be trivial to point out that creativity is intricate and complicated. Artis-

tic and scientific creativity reflect enticingly mysterious processes, capabilities, and experiences that have baffled scholars, philosophers, and creative people themselves for centuries. The ambiguity continues to encourage unusual and superstitious beliefs about creativity.

For example, ancient Greek poets, composers, and others credited their ideas to inspiration from the Muses-nine sister goddesses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne-who presided over the arts (which curiously included astronomy). Plato suggested that a state of "divine madness" helps the inspiration. Chalking up creativity to inspiration from the gods seems an unscientific idea with remark- able endurance. A few ancient and contemporary people, with more imagination than objectivity, attribute creativity to somehow tapping a universal mind or uni- versal consciousness-a mysterious information source said to float throughout the universe.

In Chapter 4 we will see that Sigmund Freud assumed creativity to be motivated by an unconscious conflict between the sex drive (libido) of the id and one's learned social conscience (superego). The neurotic conflict supposedly is resolved by rechan- neling the sex urge into creative outlets-so the id is happy, the superego is happy, the ego (self) is well-adjusted, and everybody goes to Mexico for a vacation. 3 No one any longer believes this. Another classic theorist, Carl Jung, proposed that true

"Freud also claimed that only men can t>e creattve t>ecause women's creattve urges are ful- filled in reproduction. So much for Freud's credibility.

10 Chapter One

Jung's Primordial Archetypes

Gardner Murphy, APA, ESP, and Creativity

Complexity Limits Creativity Test Validity

Affective Traits Central to Creativity

Many Forms of Our Creativity

From Planning and Hard Work, or Sudden Inspiration

Self-Actualized, Special Talent Creativity

Psychopathology?

Non-Rational Tendencies

General or Content Specific

Small Creativity, Big Creativity

Age

Step 1, Fantasy; Step 2, Logic and Implementation

Problem Finding Important

creativity involves accessing your "primordial archetypes," mental images geneti- cally passed down through the ages which provide ideas for your creative efforts. Jungians continue to believe this.

Former American Psychological Association President Gardner Murphy cited examples of paranormal experiences by Mark Twain, Robert Schumann, Goethe, and other creative persons, and argued that psychical ability and creativeness are related because similar processes are involved, such as access to one's uncon- scious mind (Krippner & Murphy, 1976; Murphy, 1963).

Let's look at additional reasons why we perceive creativity to be complicated, complex, and perhaps mysterious. To anticipate later chapters, these are reasons why measuring creative potential and predicting future creative productivity is difficult. That is, these are reasons why the validity of any creativity test or other predictive method necessarily is limited.

• Many attitudes, personality traits, motivations, cognitive and information processing abilities, family and school experiences, and cultural values and traditions either contribute to creative thinking or squelch creativity.

• We can be creative in any single part, several parts, or virtually all parts of our personal, educational, leisure, and professional lives.

• Creative innovation may stem from lengthy training, experience, planning, and lots of hard work. It also happens suddenly. Problem solutions, poetry, and even symphonies pop into consciousness. Hemingway once said, ''The stuff comes alive and turns crazy on ya"' (Bass, 1968). Analogical connec- tions may appear in an instant, as when cartoonist Gary Larson substitutes house flies for adoring mothers: "Oh my, what a cute little maggot!" Work and planning may obscure sudden inspirations.

• As we have seen, Maslow (1954, 1970) distinguished between self-actualized creativity and special talent creativity. Some students will be high in general, self-actualized creativity, others will show high creativity in a special talent area, and still others will have both.

• We also noted that high creativity seems related to psychopathology-at least in adult populations-particularly among artists and writers (poets especially).

• Creativity involves not only reason and rationality, but nonrational tendencies to be playful, fanciful, illogical, farfetched, emotional, and highly motivated.

• Creative capability may or may not be content specific. That is, ability in one area, such as music, may be independent of creative talent in another, for example, science.

• We have small-scale creative insights, as when a child creates a poem or solves a problem in a novel way, and large-scale creative achievements with endless sub-problems, as with the remarkable architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.

• Children can be innovative and creative, yet so were Grandma Moses and Picasso at ninety.

• Creative endeavor often first requires irrational and unrestrained fantasy, followed in a second stage by cold logic, analysis, evaluation, and implementation.

• Problem finding can be as important as later problem solving. Torrance called it sensing gaps in information. Others call it problem sensitivity, problem discovery, or problem defining. According to Einstein, ''The identification of

Same Process in Art and Science?

Psychologically Safe Environment

Individual, Family, Professional Group, Society

Creative Adaptors and Creative Innovators: KAI

Training and Experience

Chance Remains Important

Creativity: Partly Genetic, Partly Environment

Creativity, Self-Actualization, and You 11

the problem is more important than the solution, which may merely be a matter of mathematical or experimental skills."

• Some experts argue that the creative process is the same in art as in science-- both require finding novel solutions to problems. Others claim (with equal confidence) that there are as many creative processes as there are creative people. Actually, both positions are reasonable. We find commonalities across virtually all types of creative thinking and problem solving, yet some fea- tures of the person and context necessarily are unique.

• Creative talent will be suppressed and hidden without-to use Carl Rogers' (1962) fine phrase--a psychologically safe environment that gives permission, opportunities, and reinforcement. Social and cultural circum- stance easily support or repress creative thinking.

• We can study creativity at the level of the individual (e.g., ability, experience, motivation), family (e.g., genetics, child rearing, instruction, birth order, dis- ruption) , professional group (e.g., available knowledge), or society (e.g., sup- portive or repressive; Richards, 1990).

• Research with the extreme scorers on the Kirton Adaption-Innovation In- ventory (Kirton, 1987; see Chapter 10) tells us that adaptors solve problems and create within a conforming structure; they "try to do things better ." More imaginative and fluent innovators redefine the problem, break re- straints, and "try to do things differently." Adaptors think innovators are "unsound, impractical, risky, abrasive, often shocking .. . and create disso- nance" (Mudd, 1995, p. 242).

• Training and experience play a huge role in high-level creative achieve- ments in a content area . Such special talent creative achievements as mak- ing medical discoveries, writing Broadway plays, or creating a successful business or corporation can take years of training, experience, and skill development.

• Finally, while creative talent and hard work play an obvious role, chance and randomness also influence problem solving and creative discovery. Countless inventions and discoveries are accidental, as when Eli Whitney saw a cat reach through a fence to grab a chicken, but came back only with a pawful of feathers, thus inspiring the cotton gin. Pasteur's pasteurization also was rooted in chance, as was Roentgen's discovery of x-rays, Nobel's research with dynamite, Fleming's penicillin, Foucault's discovery that a pendulum would illustrate the rotation of the earth, Galvani's discovery that electricity could be chemically produced, and several discoveries by Edison. Columbus accidentally found a Caribbean island while looking for China (was he ever lost!). If you wish to be a successful ballerina or Sumo wrestler you must possess the right genes for the right physique. Great ac- complishments in most areas require the existence of appropriate cultural knowledge and technology and high-level instruction; one cannot-by chance--be born too soon .

Comment

Such complexities remind us of the depth and mystery of creativity. Nonethe- less, there is much we do understand about creativity. This book will help clarify creativity by examining definitions and theories, characteristics and traits, internal creative processes, idea-finding techniques used by creative people , creativity tests and their assumptions, and realistic strategies for teaching for creative growth.

12 Chapter One

But Can Be Increased A core message of this book is that everyone can increase his or her creative potential and live a more creative life. It is important.

SUMMARY Self-actualization is developing your talents to become what you are capable

of becoming. It includes being mentally healthy, forward growing, democratic- minded, and more. Creativity and self-actualization are intimately related, perhaps identical, say humanists Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, and Clark Moustakis.

Popular usage assumes a relationship between creativity and self-actualization. Csikszentmihalyi' s flow and the topic of entrepreneurship both relate to self-

actualization and creativity. Measures of self-actualization include the POI, the POD, the shorter SI (based on

the POI), the ROSE, the ROSY, and the Maslowian Scale. Research with these instru- ments supports a fairly strong relationship between self-actualization and measures of creativity. A measure of personal adjustment was related to scores on both. Self- actualization scores were highest for students who were both creative and bright.

The self-actualized creative person approaches all aspects of life in a creative fashion. The special talent creative person has a great creative talent, but may or may not be self-actualized in the mentally healthy sense. The relationship be- tween creativity and psychopathology is a longstanding one.

The first implication of the distinction between self-actualized versus special talent creative persons is that one need not possess a great creative talent to con- sider oneself creative and live a creative life. A second implication stresses the im- portance of affective, personality characteristics in creativeness. A third implica- tion is that general, self-actualized creativeness can and is successfully taught in a content-free fashion. Special talent creativity must be taught within a content area, most often by engaging students in independent projects.

It may be logical to view self-actualized and special talent creativity as inde- pendent continua; a person may be low or high on either dimension.

The history of civilization is a history of creative ideas in every area . For centuries creativity has confused scholars, philosophers, and even creative

people, leading, for example, to the invocation of Muses, a "universal mind," Freud's unconscious neurotic conflict, and other seemingly superstitious explanations.

Some aspects of the complexity of creativity include the following:

• Affective, dispositional personality traits are important for creativity. • We can be creative in one or perhaps all parts of our lives. • Creativity stems from careful planning and work and from sudden

insights . • Maslow distinguished between a general, self-actualized creativity and

special talent creativity. • High creativity relates to psychopathology, particularly in art and writing. • Creativity involves both reason plus nonrational playfulness and illogic. • Creative ability in one area may be independent of creative talent in another. • We have small-scale creative insights and very large-scale creative

achievements . • Creativity happens at all ages . • Often, a fantasy stage is followed by evaluation and implementation. • The ability to find problems is important.

Creativity, Self-Actualization, and You 13

• Some creative processes are the same in art and science, some are different. • A "psychologically safe" (Carl Rogers) environment is critical. • Creativity is studied at the level of the individual, family, professional

group, and society. • Kirton's "adaptors" create in a conforming way; more imaginative

"innovators" break restraints . • Years of training are required for most high-level creative achievements . • Chance is important in some creative discoveries and in the availability of

required knowledge .

Despite its mystery and complexity, there is much we do know about creativ- ity. And everyone can increase his or her creative capability.