What Role Does Commitment Play Among Writers With Different Levels of Creativity?

Abstract

Commitment involves how a person invests resources in a work role over long periods of time. Creativity is a novel, appropriate variation that is embraced by a field of gatekeepers and transforms the symbolic domain. This qualitative analysis (Cohen's kappas of .62, .86, .68 across three coders) addresses the different roles that commitment plays in the careers of 36 writers, depending on what level of creative influence the literary field has attributed to the writer's work. The sample was segmented into genre conformers who played by established literary rules (M ¼ 0.15, SD ¼ 0.18), experimentalists whose innovations have not yet caught on widely (M ¼ 0.80, SD ¼ 0.17), and domain transformers who changed the canon (M ¼ 1.32, SD ¼ 0.27). For genre conformers, commitment compensates. They invest technique in the craft of writing to improve their social standing among other writers, editors, and critics within the field. For experimentalists, commitment defies. They translate their selves into words by twisting traditions and supports to yield new meanings, which gains them an emotional rush plus increased control over their self-expression. For domain transformers, commitment impassions. They trust some beloved aspect of literature, such as a character or poetic form, to convert new minds to the latent possibilities of the domain.

Purpose-in-action education: Introduction and implications

“…A calling makes salient the social value of one's efforts, solidifying the beyond-the-self dimension of purpose as an internalized duty. If one is called to a particular role or social need, then it can feel like an internal validation or rightness of one's intent-a passion that one feels compelled to follow even if one must suffer for the beloved (Dobrow Riza & Heller, 2015;Moran, 2009Moran, , 2010. Callings transform work from a life requirement into a meaningful blessing and, even if initially felt as a magnet to something outside oneself, eventually become fused into self-fulfillment (Ponton et al, 2014).…”

The future of workplace commitment: key questions and directions

“…A number of very promising attempts have been made in which commitment scholars have begun to explore intra-individual change in commitment over time using latent growth modelling (i.e., Bentein, Vandenberg, Vandenberghe, & Stinglhamber, 2005;Lance et al, 2000;Vandenberghe, Panaccio, Bentein, Mignonac, & Roussel, 2011) or latent class growth modelling (Solinger et al, 2013). Examining how the processes of shaping commitments and its interconnected phenomena evolve over time may also be explored using methodologies that are inductive, interpretive, and qualitative in nature (Moran, 2009). …”

Measuring Multiple Intelligences and Moral Sensitivities in Education

“…Thus, personal meaning of an event is more impactful toward being purposeful than the event itself: it's the sensitivity to the meaning of the opportunity or challenge that spawns the person to see how he or she could use the event to contribute positively to the community now and in the future. This may be particularly relevant to creative purposes (Moran, 2009b).…”