5.3.2 Creative Persons (continued)

Additional characteristics that were mentioned less often yet are still considered to be important features of creative personalities, were tolerance for ambiguity, a broad range of interests, a tendency to play with ideas, valuing originality and creativity, unconventionality in behaviour, experiencing deep emotions, intuitiveness, seeking interesting situations, opportunism, and some degree of conflict between self‑criticism and self‑confidence.

In addition to the conflict between criticism and confidence, there appears to be a conflict or paradox between socially withdrawn and socially integrated tendencies; at least this appears to be the case when we consider the comments from those authors who discussed how creativity and creative individuals function in social environments. For instance, it was mentioned previously that creative people have impact on others in their immediate surroundings. However, Feldman and Gardner, both suggest that what distinguishes creative individuals is their lack of fit to their environment. Similarly, others have discussed creative people's need to maintain distance from their peers, an avoidance of interpersonal contact, and resistance to societal demands. Back on the other side, it has also been proposed that creative individuals have a drive for accomplishment and recognition, a need to form alliances, desire attention, praise, and support, are charismatic, display honesty and courageousness, are emotionally expressive, and are generally ethical, empathetic, and sensitive to the needs of others. The conflict between social isolation and integration, then, is yet another issue that would be brought into clearer focus if investigated directly.

The final light in which to consider creative individuals is with respect to their developmental histories. Such histories were primarily elucidated by Gruber and Davis, Simonton, and Weisberg, although some aspects of development were also discussed by Csikszentinitalyi, Gardner, Perkins, Sternberg, and Torrance.

Being a firstborn, having survived the loss of one or both parents early in life, experiencing unusual situations, being reared in a diversified, enriching, and stimulating home environment, and being exposed to a wide range of ideas are some of the early experiences and demographic characteristics that were mentioned by Simonton, Csikszentinitalyi, Weisberg, Walberg, and Gardner, respectively. Creative adults, while children, have also been cited as being happier with books than with people, liking school and doing well, developing and maintaining excellent work habits, learning outside of class for a large part of their ‘education’, having many hobbies, being omnivorous readers, and forming distinct and closely knit peer groups, yet perhaps also exhibiting marginality. Once again, the tension between social isolation and integration appears.

Having a future career image and definite role models, mentors, and paragons while in training are features put forth by Simonton, Torrance, Walberg, and Weisberg as important factors influencing the development of creators in many fields? Moreover, over the course of their careers, creative individuals exert sustained effort and hence enjoy enduring reputations, have contributions that demonstrate precocity and longevity publish early and get good jobs at the initial stages, and, overall, demonstrate voluminous productivity.

Studies of creative people, more than any other approaches to research in creativity, are in dire need of some good controls. Such control studies might, for instance, include experiments that examine people with differences in the relevant characteristics beforehand, not after their creativity has already been assessed.