Does deviancy or adjustment predict creativity? To address this question, we tested the association between personality profile normativeness (similarity between one's personality profile and the average profile-a proxy for the deviancy-adjustment continuum) and creativity across four different samples (total N = 348 768). We used a wide range of creativity measures, including self-reported, informant-reported, behavioural, and occupational creativity, as well as several essential statistical controls (i.e., demographics, socio-economic background, intelligence, and life satisfaction). Furthermore, we employed both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, including samples of college students and representative adult populations. We found that people who had more normative personality profiles were more creative. However, this association only held within modality (i.e. when both personality and creativity were either self-reported or informant-reported). We did not find robust associations between personality profile normativeness and laboratory-based behavioural measures of creativity, occupational creativity, or creative achievements. We discuss alternative explanations for the observed adjustment-creativity link, specifically, implicit theories of creativity and person perception biases (halo effects). Notably, the findings did not support the idea that deviancy breeds creativity, suggesting that the famed 'mad genius' hypothesis might not hold among the general population.
Having a sense of purpose is viewed as a benchmark of adaptive development. Though adolescence and emerging adulthood are viewed as central periods for the development of a purpose, work still is needed to understand the childhood factors that influence this developmental process. The current study provides an initial investigation into whether parent-child conflict during elementary school predicts later sense of purpose, assessed during emerging adulthood (mean age: 21.01 years; range: 19.97-23.53). The sample included 1074 students (50% female), and their parents, who both reported on their levels of parent-child conflict during grades 1-5. Higher levels of parent-child conflict were associated with lower levels of purpose in emerging adulthood. Moreover, the study examined whether these effects remained when predicting the variance unique to purpose while accounting for other indicators of well-being in emerging adulthood. Bi-factor models demonstrated that the child's perception of mother-child conflict has a unique prospective effect on purpose in emerging adulthood, above and beyond its negative association with general well-being. The findings are discussed with respect to how positive parent-child relationships may prove important for starting youth on the path to purpose.
Does deviancy or adjustment predict creativity? To address this question, we tested the association between personality profile normativeness (similarity between one’s personality profile and the average profile—a proxy for the deviancy-adjustment continuum) and creativity across four different samples (total N = 348,768). We used a wide range of creativity measures, including self-reported, informant-reported, behavioral, and occupational creativity, as well as several essential statistical controls (i.e., demographics, socio-economic background, intelligence, and life satisfaction). Furthermore, we employed both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, including samples of college students and representative adult populations. We found that people who had more normative personality profiles were more creative. However, this association only held within modality (i.e., when both personality and creativity were either self-reported or informant-reported). We did not find robust associations between personality profile normativeness and laboratory-based behavioral measures or creativity, occupational creativity, or creative achievements. We discuss alternative explanations for the observed adjustment-creativity link, specifically, implicit theories of creativity and person perception biases (halo effects). Notably, the findings did not support the idea that deviancy breeds creativity, suggesting that the famed “mad genius” hypothesis might not hold among the general population.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.