Research Letter: Investigating psychotic traits in poets

Mason, Oliver; Mort, Haydon; Woo, Jaeyeon

doi:10.1017/s0033291714002670

Cited by 9 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…A number of specific predictions were made: 1) Artists would score significantly higher than normative samples on positive but not negative schizotypy (Mason et al, 2015;Nettle, 2006); 2) Positive schizotypy would be significantly associated with increased levels of self-reported art-making (e.g. painting, poetry writing, playing music) and creative cognition (moments of inspiration and structured creative cognition) in daily life; 3) Positive schizotypy would be a significant positive predictor of entering mild dissociative states in daily life, such as the flow state; 4) This effect would be stronger during art-making, supporting the 'state hypothesis' (following Nelson and Rawlings [2010]); 5) Positive schizotypy would significantly predict increases in wellbeing (positive affect and self-esteem) as a result of art-making, supporting the 'affective hypothesis' (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The expression of schizotypy in the daily lives of artists.

Holt

2019

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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A considerable amount of research suggests that positive schizotypy (cognitive and perceptual aberrations, such as pseudo-hallucinations) is associated with creativity in the arts.In order to better understand how positive schizotypy might be expressed in the creative process, the experience sampling method was used to explore the experiential correlates of schizotypy in a sample of artists. Artists (N = 41) were sampled over a week-long period, answering questions at random intervals that related to mood, cognition, state of consciousness and behaviour, resulting in reports on 2495 experiences. The sample scored significantly higher than normative samples on positive, but not negative, schizotypy, supporting previous research on the role of 'healthy schizotypy' in creativity. Multi-level modelling demonstrated that positive schizotypy predicted a particular experiential profile in daily life, characterised by more frequent reports of the flow state, altered experience, internal dialogue, vivid imagery, distractibility, introspection and high self-esteem. Positive schizotypy (but not other dimensions of schizotypy) was also a significant predictor of artmaking and inspiration in daily life. Random intercept and slope models suggested that positive schizotypy was associated with greater increases in positive affect and self-esteem during or following art-making, supporting an 'affective hypothesis' for the relationship between schizotypy and artistic involvement. This study supports previous research linking positive schizotypy with artistic creativity, and suggests that, in this context, positive schizotypy can be associated with adaptive experiences, including inspiration, flow and selfesteem. Further, art-making may serve a therapeutic function for artists high in positive schizotypy.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The expression of schizotypy in the daily lives of artists.

Holt

2019

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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“…Relatedly, a positive correlation between disorganised schizotypy and remote association problem solving has been documented in a study ( Gibson, Folley & Park, 2009 ). Disorganisation and other dimensions of schizotypy appear to be elevated among artists: higher levels of positive, disorganised and impulsive-asocial schizotypy have been reported in poets ( Mason, Mort & Woo, 2015 ), actors, and comedians (the latter group has also shown elevated negative schizotypy) ( Ando, Claridge & Clark, 2014 ). Another study has reported that relative to non-artists, a group of visual artists not only produced more unique ideas on verbal divergent thinking tasks, but also demonstrated elevated positive, disorganised and impulsive-asocial schizotypy ( Burch et al, 2006 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the theoretical relevance and the measurement of the impulsive-asocial dimension of schizotypy are somewhat controversial (e.g., Lin et al, 2013 ; Fonseca-Pedrero et al, 2015 ), we nevertheless decided to include impulsive-asocial schizotypy in the analyses as several studies have underscored its connection with creativity (e.g., Burch et al, 2006 ; Acar & Runco, 2012 ; Acar & Sen, 2013 ; Stanciu & Papasteri, 2018 ). Based on studies that distinguished between negative and disorganised schizotypy and found the latter to be positively linked to creativity ( Gibson, Folley & Park, 2009 ; Ando, Claridge & Clark, 2014 ; LeBoutillier, Barry & Westley, 2014 ; Mason, Mort & Woo, 2015 ), we expected that disorganised schizotypy will positively predict creative thinking skills and creative accomplishments. We expected to find stronger associations between positive and impulsive schizotypy and creativity in the domain of art ( Acar & Sen, 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insomnia and intellect mask the positive link between schizotypal traits and creativity

Polner

Simor

Kéri

2018

PeerJ

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BackgroundSchizotypy is a set of personality traits that resemble the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia in the general population, and it is associated with various subclinical mental health problems, including sleep disturbances. Additionally, dimensions of schizotypy show specific but weak associations with creativity. Given that creativity demands cognitive control and mental health, and that sleep disturbances negatively impact cognitive control, we predicted that positive, impulsive and disorganised schizotypy will demonstrate stronger associations with indicators of creativity, if the effect of mental health, insomnia, and intellect are statistically controlled.MethodsUniversity students (N = 182) took part in the study. Schizotypy was assessed with the shortened Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (sO-LIFE). Creative achievements were measured with the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ), divergent thinking was assessed with the ‘Just suppose’ task, and remote association problem solving was tested with Compound Remote Associate (CRA) problems. Mental health was assessed with the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and insomnia was examined with the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). Verbal short term memory was measured with the forward digit span task, and intellect was assessed with the Rational-Experiential Inventory (REI). Multiple linear regressions were performed to examine the relationship between creativity and schizotypy. Indicators of creativity were the dependent variables. In the first block, dimensions of schizotypy, age, gender and smoking were entered, and in the second block, the models were extended with mental health, insomnia, verbal short term memory, and intellect.ResultsPositive schizotypy positively predicted real-life creative achievements, independently from the positive effect of intellect. Follow-up analyses revealed that positive schizotypy predicted creative achievements in art, while higher disorganised schizotypy was associated with creative achievements in science (when intellect was controlled for). Furthermore, disorganised schizotypy positively predicted remote association problem solving performance, if insomnia and verbal short term memory were statistically controlled. No dimension of schizotypy was significantly associated with divergent thinking.DiscussionIn line with previous findings, positive schizotypy predicted real-life creative achievements. The positive effects of disorganised schizotypy might be explained in terms of the simultaneous involvement of enhanced semantic priming and cognitive control in problem solving. We speculate that the lack of associations between divergent thinking and schizotypy might be related to instruction effects. Our study underscores the relevance of sleep impairment to the psychosis-spectrum, and refines our knowledge about the adaptive aspects of schizotypy in the general population.

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“…They did so across all measures of schizotypy, as well as on self-reported symptoms of bipolar disorder. Self-reported bipolar symptoms were seen at a similar level (14%) to a comparable sample of poets (18%: Mason et al 2015), and exceeded the general population by a factor of four. The elevated levels of positive schizotypy were also broadly similar to those seen in both poets and comedians (Ando et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Elevated schizotypal traits have also been found in a range of creative groups (see Holt, 2015, for review), though musicians have not received specific attention. We used here the same methodology as recent studies of both comedians (Ando et al 2014) and poets (Mason et al 2015). We predicted that musicians would possess both greater self-reported schizotypy and bipolar symptoms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychotic traits in musicians

Mason

Daniels

2018

Psychol. Med.

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The association of music with madness is very longstanding. But is it more than myth, and if so what is the nature of this relationship? We tested the hypotheses that musicians possess greater schizotypy and symptoms of bipolar disorder. A total of 102 musicians were found to have greater positive and negative schizotypal traits when compared to matched norms on the shortened Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences. Based on the Mood Disorder Questionnaire, 10.8% of musicians also met criteria for lifetime bipolar disorder. Rock musicians appeared to have greater symptoms than those performing in other musical genres.

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Research Letter: Investigating psychotic traits in poets

Cited by 9 publications

References 14 publications

The expression of schizotypy in the daily lives of artists.

The expression of schizotypy in the daily lives of artists.

Insomnia and intellect mask the positive link between schizotypal traits and creativity

Psychotic traits in musicians

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