Thinking of novel and productive ways to do things.
As human beings, we have an innate desire to leave our mark on the world. Be it a song 🎵 , a painting 🎨 , or even just a new way to make toast 🍞 , creativity is the vehicle through which we express our uniqueness.
And like a great piece of literature or an Oscar-winning movie, it goes much deeper than that.
Creativity defines a general tendency to approach life’s obstacles with a commitment to explore original, imaginative routes. The ability to consistently generate new ideas expands your sense of self and, in turn, your sense of possibility.
Need a little more encouragement to pick up that paintbrush? Notable psychologists such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers have both argued that creativity is strongly associated with the capacity for self-actualization 🙌.
While it may seem like some people are born creative and others are not, the truth is that creativity can be cultivated and nurtured in anyone. All it takes is a little practice.
But before you start flexing those artistic muscles, it’s important to understand the two essential components of creativity. The ideas, projects, and solutions you produce must be:
🔍 Recognizably original: This doesn’t mean that every single thing you create has to be a groundbreaking masterpiece. Rather, it means that your creations must have an element of novelty that sets them apart from what already exists.
💡 Adaptive: Whatever it is you put out into the world, it must make a positive contribution to your life or to the lives of others. In other words, it’s not enough for your creations to be original—they should also add value in some way.
Keeping these two components in mind as you explore your creative side will help guide and refine your ideas, leading to more impactful and fulfilling creations.
Like all character strengths, creativity is found in degrees and varies across individuals. And let’s be honest—this one gets a bad rap 👋.
When we think of creativity, we often picture extreme stereotypes.
😓 🎬 The struggling actress whose life is on hold while she awaits her big break.
😝 🎸 The famously eccentric musician whose wild antics always make front-page news.
This kind of extreme originality is sometimes referred to as Big C creativity (Simonton, 2000). It shapes cultures, makes history, and straight-up changes the world. But it also isolates and separates its creators from the rest of society, leading them to live somewhat chaotic and unconventional lives. If this definition of creativity is the only one we know, it’s no wonder so many of us shy away from it.
But somewhere between the failure to live up to artistic potential and the pressure to be groundbreaking lies the more subtle form of creativity that we all carry within us: the everyday kind.
The truth is, most of us are not Big Cs. We don’t have our names etched in history books or statues built in our honor. But that doesn’t mean we’re not creative.
Think about it: Have you ever found a new way to organize your closet? Or come up with a clever solution at work? These seemingly small, unassuming acts make up the majority of human creative output. It’s what we call ingenuity—and it’s vital to the growth and progress of society.
Little C 🏆 power is what makes the world go ’round.
If you don’t yet feel comfortable embracing your Little C, don’t worry. It takes time to develop confidence in being creative. But by learning more about what it means and all the different benefits you’ll glean from consistent self-expression, you can strengthen this character strength and expand your sense of possibility.
While humans have been making art and coming up with innovative solutions for centuries, creativity as a character strength wasn’t a major topic of research until the 1980s. Today, psychologists of every subdiscipline are putting ingenuity under a microscope:
💭 Cognitive psychologists dial into the thought processes that underlie creativity and search for new ways to stimulate it.
👯 Social psychologists seek to determine which interpersonal relationships and social influences are most likely to either enhance or inhibit individual creativity.
👶 Developmental psychologists scrutinize early childhood and adolescence, searching for the specific experiences that grow our creativepotential.
🕵 Personality psychologists investigate the motives, values, interests,traits, and styles most strongly associated with personal creativity.
🤕 Clinical psychologists leverage creativity as a treatment technique, likeimplementing art therapy classes in hospitals.
No matter the specific angle, psychologists are still grappling with the same age-old question: What makes one person more creative than another?
As it turns out, it’s more complex than you might think.
There’s no single consensus on what makes an individual more capable of tapping into their creative nature than another. But psychologists have drawn at least two widely accepted conclusions about highly creative people (Cassandro & Simonton, 2003; Simonton, 2003; Simonton 1999a, 2000, 2002).
1⃣ Creativity doesn’t equal brilliance. People who are deemed to be highly creative don’t necessarily score higher on standard intelligence tests.
2⃣ Highly creative people seem to share distinct dispositions. They’re independent, nonconformist, unconventional, and bohemian. They tend to have wide interests, risk-taking boldness, a greater openness to new experiences, and more conspicuous behavioral and cognitive flexibility (Feist, 1998).
Because of that second conclusion, a lot of research was dedicated to determining the link (if any) between creativity 🎨 and psychopathy 🚫.
Often referred to as the Mad Genius Issue, investigations into the potential connection between mental illness and creativity date all the way back to Plato and Aristotle. But is there any truth to it? Or is the myth of the tortured artist just that—a myth?
Some empirical evidence suggests the link is real. Epidemiological studies have found that creativity tends to be higher in people with a family history of psychopathology. And highly creative individuals often exhibit above-normal levels of symptoms associated with clinical diagnosis, such as:
• Introversion verging on withdrawal
• Depression
• Manic episodes
• Seemingly antisocial behaviors
Despite these findings, the current consensus is that there’s no causal connection between creativity and mental disorder. Rather, creativity may be interpreted as a highly successful adaptation to pathological tendencies—A.K.A., a lifelong coping behavior that turns a potentially devastating characteristic into a personal advantage.
Nurturing your Little C is all about finding and creating the conditions that support it. Research has found that the tendency to be creative is fairly stable over time, but it can be either enhanced or hindered by certain variables (Character Strengths and Virtues; Christopher Peterson & Martin E.P. Seligman, 2004).
Creativity Enhancing Factors 👍
• Supportive, reinforcing, open, and informal environments (think growing up with a home that provided many opportunities for stimulation, like a library of books and family outings to museums)
• Working on several problems or projects simultaneously (allowing ideas to incubate)
• Permitting internal crosstalk (allowing ideas to bounce around your mind)
Creativity Hindering Factors 👎
• Time pressure and severe constraints (which may actually cripple creative thinking and problem-solving)
• Having your work closely supervised (think micromanaging tactics)
• Being constantly subjected to critical examination (either by yourself or by others)
Given what psychologists know about creativity, it’s clear that understanding and nurturing the mind is essential for personal growth and development. By embracing your creativity, you open yourself up to a world of possibilities and potential success in all areas of life.
