Can Creativity Beat Death? A Review and Evidence on the Existential Anxiety Buffering Functions of Creative Achievement

Abstract

The relationship between creativity and symbolic immortality had been long acknowledged by scholars. In a review of the literature, we found 12 papers that empirically examined the relationship between creativity and mortality awareness using a Terror Management Theory paradigm, overall supporting the notion that creativity plays an important role in the management of existential concerns. Also, a mini meta‐analysis of the impact of death awareness on creativity resulted in a small‐medium weighted mean effect. We examined the existential anxiety buffering functions of creative achievement as assessed by the Creative Achievement Questionnaire in a sample of 108 students. It was found that at high, but not low, levels of creative goals, creative achievement was associated with lower death‐thought accessibility under mortality salience in comparison to controls. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical report of the anxiety buffering functions of creative achievement among people for whom creativity constitutes a central part of their cultural worldview. The current findings support the notion that creative achievement may be an avenue for symbolic immortality, particularly among individuals who value creativity. Implications for understanding death‐related creativity motivations and their impact on individuals and society and for the promotion of creative achievement and creative motivation are discussed.

Can culture beat Covid-19? Evidence that exposure to facemasks with cultural symbols increases solidarity

“…These findings are consistent with the TMT perspective (Vail et al, 2012) that people manage the awareness death by adhering to salient cultural worldviews (Gailliot et al, 2008;Jonas et al, 2008). Also, it is possible that cultural, but not surgical, facemasks reminded people of enduring human creativity that embodies key cultural values (e.g., beauty) in the face of death, thereby affirming people's symbolic, long-lasting existence as cultural members (Perach, 2020;Perach & Wisman, 2019). In other words, the findings of Study 3 suggest that cultural facemasks can activate terror management processes that relate to humans' unique capacity for culture (Greenberg et al, 1986), with the potential for enhancing collective resilience.…”

Understanding terror states of online users in the context of COVID-19: An application of Terror Management Theory

“…This includes amassing financial wealth, building families, tangible artefacts such as monuments, books, pictures or music, and intangible artefacts, such as ideas or memories ( Pyszczynski et al, 2015 ). Perach and Wisman (2019) found that creativity (related to idea generation) was associated with lower death-thought accessibility and mortality salience. Some authors have suggested that terror management theory can be used to explain consumer behaviour, such as conspicuous displays of wealth through consumption ( Arndt et al, 2004 ; Maheswaran & Agrawal, 2004 ; Rindfleisch & Burroughs, 2004 ).…”

Finding Meaning With Creativity in the Past, Present, and Future

“…Creativity increases upon being primed for mortality salience only if the act itself is focused on community (Routledge, Arndt, Vess, & Sheldon, 2008) or related to leaving a legacy (Sligte, Nijstad, & De Dreu, 2013). It is also notable that people with a low need for structure (which has been associated with creativity; De Jonge, Rietzschel, & Van Yperen, 2018) are less likely to be successfully primed to think about mortality salience itself (Routledge & Juhl, 2012), as are those people who reported specific evidence of creative accomplishment (Perach & Wisman, 2016).…”