THE EXPERIENCE OF CREATIVITY:

A QUALITATIVE GENERIC THEMATIC ANALYSIS

by
Pearl R. Reed-Klein

LOUIS KAVAR, PhD, Faculty Mentor and Chair

WILLIAM HUITT, PhD, Committee Member
HERBERT HAUSER, PhD, Committee Member

Curtis Brant, PhD, Dean

Harold Abel School of Social and Behavioral Sciences

A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Psychology

Capella University
September 2014

UMI Number: 3641941

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 Pearl R. Reed-Klein 2014

Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation is to articulate creativity as experienced by artists from
New York State. A review of the literature supports the inquiry as a contribution to
psychology toward gained knowledge of the creative experience. The methodology
utilized during the study was the qualitative generic thematic analysis as developed by
Braun & Clarke (2006). The intent of this investigation was to gain psychological
understanding of the experience of creativity, and to substantiate the foundation for
continued creativity research. Further support is provided towards development of
academic courses, creativity conferences, and workshops. The researcher postulates the
importance of creativity regarding self-empowerment, confidence, healing, identity, and
positive life change.

Dedication
This dissertation is dedicated to my adoptive parents, who provided the
foundation of unconditional love and acceptance throughout my life that enabled me to
seek my dreams. The consistency of a secure and loving home offered me the courage,
strength, and resilience to persevere.
My mother and father passed away during the writing of this dissertation. I
believe they are with me in spirit, sending me love and encouragement. I was blessed
with my parents, and every day I thank them for their love. My parents offered me the
freedom and support to pursue my dreams, adventures, and numerous creative pursuits.
My mother was an entrepreneur at a time when women did not typically own their own
businesses. My father could build anything. He was a proud WWII veteran and my
mother a business owner (1930), I believe this is where my work ethic derived, my
determination and dedication to meet life goals.
Thank you, dear parents, for adopting me and teaching me the ways of family,
respect, hard work, compassion, giving, and true love. You are present in every word
written and every thought expressedalways and forever. You will always be the wind
beneath my wings.

iii

Acknowledgments
I send thanks to Great Spirit for the comfort, guidance, and strength given to me
during this journey. There were times when personal losses seemed to stop my
momentum, but I am thankful and grateful for the memories of love, my current family,
and Great Spirit who sustained me to make my dream come true. Keith and Rachel have
been at my side through this journey. I thank them for support, understanding, and
sacrifices during my PhD journey and dissertation. Love has held, assisted, and motivated
me to continue my work.
I thank my mentor, Dr. Louis Kavar and appreciate his patience, wisdom, support,
and direction throughout my doctoral experience. We both experienced losses during this
journey and I will never forget how difficult times were but with resilience, love and
compassion, we both continued on. I thank my dissertation committee members, Drs.
Huitt and Hauser, who assisted me to think critically, and cultivate as a PhD and doctor
of psychology.
Finally, I am thankful to all of the professors I have had at Capella University.
Thank you for your invaluable gifts of knowledge. I am blessed because of you.

iv

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments

iv

List of Figures

vii

List of Tables

viii

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Background of the Problem

Statement of the Problem

Purpose of the Study

Significance of the Study

Research Design

Research Question

Assumptions and Limitations

Definition of Terms

Expected Findings

10

Organization of the Remainder of the Study

11

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

12

Introduction to the Literature Review

12

Theoretical Approaches to Creativity

12

Review of Creativity Research

24

Research Methodology

51

Theoretical Discussion

55

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY

60

Purpose of the Study

60
v

Research Design

60

Target Population and Participant Selection

61

Procedures

63

Instruments

65

Research Questions

67

Data Analysis and Synthesis

67

Ethical Considerations

69

Credibility and Dependability

71

Expected Findings

74

CHAPTER 4. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

75

Introduction: The Study and the Researcher

75

Description of the Research Participants

76

Research Methodology Applied to the Data Analysis

83

Presentation of the Data and Results of the Analysis

83

Discussion

103

CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS

106

Introduction

106

Summary of the Results

106

Discussion of the Results

108

Limitations

117

Recommendations for Future Research or Interventions

119

Conclusion

120

REFERENCES

123
vi

List of Figures
Figure 1. Shared Vulnerability Model

14

Figure 2. Flow

15

Figure 3. Systems View of Creativity

17

Figure 4. Geneplore Model of Creativity

19

Figure 5. Psychopathology

20

Figure 6. Complete Four C Model of Creativity

22

Figure 7. Martindales Primordial Cognition and Arousal Potential

27

Figure 8. Knowledge of Domain of Creativity

29

Figure 9. Threshold Theory of Creativity

32

Figure 10. Suicide Rates

39

Figure 11. Experience of Creativity Research Process

vii

104

List of Tables
Table 1. Choices

23

Table 2. Creativity and demographics

30

Table 3. Ludwigs creative arts verses other professionals

35

viii

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Background of the Problem
Creativity involves environmental, external elements such as culture, gender,
community, peers, and family. Creativity complexities also encompass internal elements
such as cognition, psychology, and spirituality (Andreasen, 2005; Csikszentmihalyi &
Csikszentmihalyi, 2006; Richards, 2009; Runco, 2007a; Runco, 2007b; Sawyer, 2006;
Sternberg, 1999). Holistic approaches to understanding creativity consider how these
elements operate simultaneously to produce a creative event. Csikszentmihalyi and
Csikszentmihalyi (2006) suggest, Most of the things we find interesting, important, and
human are the results of creativity. When we are involved in it, we feel that we are living
more fully than during the rest of life (p. 1). Through gained understanding of creativity,
individuals learn to become empowered, make significant life changes, develop positive
thoughts, and enhance life experiences.
Csikszentmihalyi (1996) suggests life is more worth living and contains
satisfaction when creativity is present. Csikszentmihalyi (1996) argues that creativity is a
central source of meaning in our lives, and when one is engaged in the creative process,
his/her life becomes full and satisfying. Sternberg (1999) advocates expanding the
understanding and definition of creativity because many of its dynamics remain mystical,
elusive, and unknown. The topic of creativity has fascinated scientists throughout time, as
far back as the ancient Greeks. Plato (trans. 1956) found that inspiration revolved around
1

others who were inspired such as philosophers, artists, and musicians. Guilford (1950)
was first to bring recent awareness to the topic when addressing the American
Psychological Association. Additional researchers have contributed to the study of the
dynamics of creativity: Amabile (1996) reports intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as
paramount to the creative process; Andreasen (2005) provides internal inferences to the
progression of creativity; Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi (2006) relate the human
holistic experience of creativity, and developed the systems theory of creativity; Eysenck
(1995) studies psychopathologies and commonalities of creative people; Heilman (2005)
researches addiction, depression, the brain, and creativity; Jamison (1993) offers
creativity through the lenses of various artists; Kaufman and Sternberg (2010) studied
development of creativity history and subject definition; Martindale (1999) conducts
historiometric studies of creative people; Richards (2009) researches personality traits of
creative people, and develops a tool for creative understanding; Runco (2007a, 2007b)
brings creativity into academic interest; Sawyer (2011) supports comprehensive
understanding of self in relation to others; Simonton (2009) applies empirical
methodologies to creativity understanding; and Sternberg (2006a) developed scientific
resources such as the Handbook of Creativity, providing theories and research related to
the creativity phenomenon.
Kaufman and Sternberg (2010), Richards (2009), Runco (2007a, 2007b), and
Sawyer (2006) argue that creativity research is nascent, and has been studied
predominantly in psychology. Creativity remains a substantive issue, requiring continued
investigation and analysis to advance scientific knowledge. Internal (i.e., intrinsic) factors
2

such as psychological components found in genetic and personality traits continue to be

researched regarding the experience of creativity. Once the mental process of cognition
occurs, thoughts, ideas, and inspiration allow for creative potential to be realized
(Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Singer, 2004). Andreasen (2005) and Heilman (2005) assert
that internal aspects are at the core of the creative process since they originate within the
brain through complex processes. External (i.e., extrinsic) factors related to the
experience of creativity are societal, cultural, and social components. These factors
provide expansion of dynamics that influence a persons experience of creativity (Finke,
Ward, & Smith, 1992; Gardner, 1993; Seligman, 2002: Seligman, Steen, Park, &
Peterson, 2005).
Csikszentmihalyi (1996) contends that creativity evolved as a mental activity in
the brain of certain people, and was a special, valued human experience. Some scientists
consider creativity insignificant within a world of serious needs and troubles, yet
humanity depends on creativity for environmental development, medical advancements,
and human survival. A creative individual might be in a unique position to comprehend
the magnitude of creativity fully, and how it relates to a persons general functioning as
related to the world around them (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 2006; Sternberg,
1999).
External factors such as peers, society, and culture affect creativity (Gruber, 1988;
Harrington, 1990; Simonton, 1999, 1990; Stein, 1953). Cognitions resulting from life
experiences inspire, stimulate, and motivate emotions and thoughts of love, excitement,
intimacy, beauty, and happiness, or from negative life experiences such as feelings of
3

grief, loss, pain, or trauma. Creativity can be studied through macro (i.e., creativity as
developed through long-term expression) and micro (i.e., creativity as inspired at certain
times in ones life) levels, and through theoretical frameworks (Sternberg et al., 2004).
This study seeks to understand the experience of creativity from the perspective of New
York State artists, the investigation of which enhances contemporary scientific
knowledge regarding the complexities of the creative experience.
Statement of the Problem
The research topic is to investigate the experience of creativity among artists.
People of all ages, genders, cultures, orientations, spiritualties, and ethnicities manifest
creativity in numerous forms. Sternberg (1999) suggests, There are effects on the
conception of creativity, the creative process, the direction of creativity toward certain
domains of activity or certain social groups, and extent of which creativity is nurtured
(p. 339). Culture is influential to the experience of creativity. Kim (2010) was raised in
Asian culture before transitioning to the West, where she studied under creativity guru
Paul Torrance. She hypothesizes, Culture is more influential than creative strategies and
skills for fostering creativity in individuals (p. 131). Kim contends that although
creativity can be taught and learned to some extent, the cultural factor plays a role in
ones perception and experience of creativity.
Creativity can begin at any age, and might have the potential to strengthen as one
matures. Rietzschel, De Drue and Nijstad (2009) argued longevity of continued artist
creation might increase over time and expand with age rather than decrease over time.
This study focuses on adult artists over the age of 18, whose art media include, but are
4

not limited to, music, painting, writing, and hand crafting. The term art media throughout
this document relates to varying forms of artistic expression. It is the intention of this
study to increase knowledge of the internal process of the before, during, and after
experiences of creativity gathered from interviews with artists. The investigation
addresses the gap in extant creativity literature regarding the experience of creativity,
with discussions following in the literature review.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to expand understanding and increase scientific
knowledge of the experience of creativity as experienced by artists. The phenomenon of
creativity is explored through a comprehensive, holistic, psychological perspective of
understanding. The study was designed to gain insights from extant creativity research as
a foundation for the investigation. Interviews were conducted to abstract thematic
information regarding the experience of creativity from artists personal expressions. The
study seeks to gain knowledge that has not been demonstrated previously, and uses a
qualitative generic thematic analysis inquiry designed to gain personal information from
New York artists. Extant research does not offer thematic commonalities experienced by
artists.
Significance of the Study
Research on the experience of creativity is significant for psychology and
scientific knowledge, as noted by Andreasen (1987, 2005), Carson (2011),
Csikszentmihalyi (1996, 2000), Eysenck (1993, 1995), Gardner (1993), Guilford (1950),
Heilman (2005), Jamison (1993), Richards (2006, 2009), Runco (2004, 2007a, 2007b),
5

Simonton (1999, 2000, 2009), and Sternberg (1999, 2006a). These researchers
characterize creativity as significant to individual, societal, cultural, and global
experiences. Continued creativity research contributes to the individual through
experience leading to a more satisfied life. Societal creativity research provides
advancements in business, economics, and culture research, maintaining and empowering
people to continue with traditions passed through generations. Global creativity research
might be important to safeguards related to global warming, water sanitation, and
irrigation for crops in impoverished nations. Creativity research allows creative minds to
develop plans to address human trafficking and violent crimes and wars. The power of
creativity is endless, and researching the topic holds indefinite significance. This study
uses semi-structured, conversational interviews with artists from varying ethnicities who
employ an array of artistic media to discover commonalities of creativity experiences.
The investigation provides an enhanced psychological basis for future research on the
phenomenon.
Research Design
The methodological model for this study was based on the generic qualitative
generic thematic analysis methodology Merriam (1998) devised. The model includes the
component of themes, sub-themes, and coding, which allow for intrinsic and extrinsic
experiences participants who answered semi-guided interview questions expressed freely.
The researcher did not interpret information biasedly, nor through personal assumptions,
but rather through free and rich interpretations of creative participants. Internal and
external experiences of the phenomena being studied were integrated with how and
6

what identifiers to construct the essence of qualitative generic thematic analysis, which
offers flexibility concerning collection of narrative data details and descriptions.
Data were acquired through semi-structured, conversational, recorded interview
questions with each participant (Madill & Gough, 2008; Patton 2002). Participants were
encouraged to comment freely and comprehensively to obtain rich, in-depth information
on the experience of creativity. Field notes were taken immediately following each
interview, allowing the researcher to recall detailed information accurately related to both
interview content and participants behaviors and responses. Thematic analysis, as Braun
and Clarke (2006) developed, allowed the researcher to commence inquiry toward the
meaning of the experience of creativity. Data obtained from qualitative generic thematic
analysis allow a comprehensive foundation of understanding a phenomenon, supporting a
researchers themes (Aronson, 1994).
Research Question
The research question of this study is: What is the experience of creativity as
experienced by artists?
Assumptions and Limitations
Methodological assumptions for this study were found in extant literature and
through understanding supporting definitions, theories, and complexities of the creativity
phenomenon, synthesized through qualitative generic thematic analysis. The experience
of creativity was interpreted independently by each participant, and received without
prior intention, theory, or axiology. Epistemology is apparent in qualitative research since
the interviewee and interviewer might mutually influence each other to dig deeper into
7

the question, thus adding to the knowledge, depth, and legitimacy of the investigation
experience. Thematic commonalities were sought to saturation, providing the essence of
the experience of creativity.
Moustakas (1994) emphasizes that creative causation and reality might reassign or
be redirected at any time, which allows for enriching interview content. This study
presents inductive analysis, as opposed to deductive. Finally, interpretive and
constructivist assumptions were evident in the interview inquiry. Moustakas notes that
inner knowledge is the basis for all scientific knowledge as is related to individual and
personal experience. Qualitative thematic analysis protocol sought the conscious
expression of participants as they presented their unique expressions during semistructured interview to obtain rich and personal countenance (Caelli et al., 2003).
Limitations of the study were found in the small sample of participants, which
was appropriate for qualitative generic thematic analysis (Polkinghorne, 1989). A larger
sample, examination of one gender, restriction to similar artistic media, exploration of
specific spiritualties, or concentration on one age group might generate findings that
enhance the significance of current study results. As a creative artist, the researcher was
conscious of bias so as not to exert personal influence on participants. Additional
limitations were found in the location of New York State. Expanding the geographic area
in future investigations might include variances of discovery in the experience of
creativity.

Definition of Terms
Research terms requiring definition included a) creativity and b) experience.
Creativity
Creativity is a phenomenon inclusive of complex, comprehensive, and holistic
characteristics (Andreasen, 2005; Csikszentmihalyi, 1996, 2000, Csikszentmihalyi &
Csikszentmihalyi, 2006; Eysenck, 1995; Gardner, 1993; Kaufman & Baer, 2005;
Richards, 2009; Runco and Albert, 1990; Simonton, 2005; Sternberg, 1999). Sternberg
and Lubart (1996) suggest creativity is the ability to produce work that is both novel
(i.e., original, unexpected) and appropriate (i.e., useful, adaptive concerning task
constraints) (p. 3). Creativity can be explained as an internal process developing from
within the brain (Andreason, 2005). Creativity has also been discussed from both nature
and nurture aspectspsychological and environmentalthat relate to internal and
external dynamics. A persons creativity might constitute personal gratification and
remain a personal art, or extend to others outside of oneself since a creative person might
identify with, collect, or gift art. Economics relate to art since many artists live from the
proceeds of their creations.
This study seeks understanding of the experience of creativity through the lens of
New York State artists. Creativity is understood in various disciplines as a) originality of
cognition, b) self-expression, c) manifestation of expression deemed creative by society,
and d) inspired, passionate production that might be intentional or inherent (Carson,
2011; Csikszentmihalyi, 2006; Richards, 2009; Runco, 2007a, 2007b; Simonton, 2000;
Sternberg, 1999).
9

Experience
Moustakas (1994) argues that experience seeks meanings as an outpouring from
the senses upon the processes of inspiration, passion, emotion, intuition and individual
reflection (p. 58). Experience is an internal complexity, subjectively unique to each
individual. Kockelmans (1967) presents the qualitative process as obtaining knowledge
as it appears to consciousness, the science of describing what one perceives, senses, and
knows in ones immediate awareness and experience. The process leads to an unfolding
of phenomenal consciousness through science and philosophy toward absolute
knowledge of the Absolute (p. 24). This study expresses experience as a rich, unique,
personal perception of creativity gained from creative artist participants.
Expected Findings
Expected findings included obtaining fresh, personal, uninhibited reports of the
experience of creativity from New York artists. Through individual interviews and semistructured questions, it was expected that regardless of ethnicity, gender, spirituality, age,
or artistic medium, data saturation would occur and commonality and themes of the
experience of creativity would be consistent. Triangulation strengthened the study
through use of artists, dissimilar art media, inclusive genders, and extant literature from
quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Coded thematic content and recognized
patterns of artistic expression of the experience of creativity provided understanding
regarding process, expression, and individual experience (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Patton,
2002).

10

Organization of the Remainder of the Study

Organization of the dissertation is presented in chapter one, providing
foundational information regarding the topic of investigation. Content includes
background, a statement of the problem, the purpose and significance of the study,
research design, the research question, assumptions and limitations, definitions of terms,
expected findings, and the organization of the research. Chapter two presents a literature
review of creativity research, which provides comprehensive understanding of creativity
as directed toward addressing the research question. Chapter three contains the studys
methodology. Chapter four presents data collection and analysis, resulting from thematic
analysis procedures, and chapter five presents a discussion, implications, and
recommendations resulting from findings. Foundational, unambiguous knowledge
achieved from the study provides a platform for increased understanding of the
experience of creativity.

11

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction to the Literature Review
Little extant research exists regarding personal and unique experiences of
creativity. The literature review presents creativity theories and research as a foundation
to understand the phenomenon further. Guilford (1950) is recognized for bringing
creativity to the forefront of contemporary psychological investigation, and through his
efforts, creativity is respected in scientific research (Sternberg, 1999). The current review
investigates the experience of creativity from the intimate cognitions of the artist. This
literature review is comprised of two sections: theoretical approaches to creativity,
depicting creativity theory models, and a review of creativity research, inclusive of
contributions from creativity experts. The review identifies, describes, and evaluates
studies that support the research problem, research question, and significance of the
study. The researcher conducted data collection using semi-structured interviews,
allowing in-depth expression of the experience of creativity. The literature review
incorporates Merriams (1998) qualitative generic thematic analysis method. Literature
used is inclusive of primary sources, including peer-reviewed articles, books, and other
sources from theorists and researchers. Reviews are synthesized in a discussion.
Theoretical Approaches to Creativity
Creativity has been described as an outcome of numerous psychological internal
and external intricacies (Andreasen, 2005; Csikszentmihalyi, 1990b, 2000; Eysenck,
1995; Gardner, 1993; Kaufman & Baer, 2005; Richards, 2009; Runco & Albert, 1990;
12

Simonton, 2005; Sternberg, 1999). Creativity theoretical models and creativity research
reviews are presented as a foundation for understanding the phenomenological research
inquiry.
The Shared Vulnerability Model of Creativity
The shared vulnerability model, developed by Mednick (1962), portrays creativity
and psychopathology containing associated traits as related to an individual (Figure 1).
The model depicts knowledge (i.e., memory), intelligence, mental illness, and creativity
as related to IQ, cognitive flexibility, and psychopathology. The model represents a
combination of protective and risk factors, forming a shared relationship consisting of
creativity and psychopathology, otherwise known as shared vulnerability. The model
contains episodic experiences of cognitive flexibility and inhibitions, psychological
distress, high creative experience, and times of inactive creativity. Risk factors complete
the model, displaying experiences with impaired memory, low intelligence, and
perseveration of thought.

13

Shared Vulnerability Model

Figure 1. Mednicks Shared Vulnerability Model. Model shows associated traits between
creativity and psychopathology. From Creativity and Psychopathology: A Shared
Vulnerability Model, (p. 148), by S. Carson PhD, 2011, the Canadian Journal of
Psychiatry, 56(3). Copyright 2011 by Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Reprinted with
permission.
Menick (1962) suggests that the ability or process of synthesizing remote
thoughts or what appears as inconsequential thoughts into or toward new thoughts,
cognitions, and ideas is the complex basis for creativity.
Flow Model of Creativity
Csikszentmihalyi (1990a) developed the flow model of creativity to highlight the
internal, cognitive elements of the experience of creativity. Csikszentmihalyi reasons that
one should strive to obtain a happy, content, empowered, and harmonious life by finding
individual meaning. The author stresses the importance of including activities and people
that bring meaning to life. Csikszentmihalyi argues, Purpose, resolution, and harmony
unify life and give it meaning by transforming it into a seamless flow experience.
14

Whoever achieves this state will never really lack anything else. A person whose
consciousness is so ordered need not fear unexpected events or even death (p. 217).
Csikszentmihalyi (1990a) presents the term flow as being the heightened state during the
process of creativity. Access to flow stems from polar axes of anxiety and boredom.
Through conscious, cognitive motivation, one directs a creative path to the extent he/she
chooses.
Flow

Figure 2. Flow. Graph portrays the cognitive components of the creative experience.
From Flow (p. 74), by M. Csikszentmihalyi, 1990a, New York: Harper & Row
Publishers. Copyright 1990 by M. Csikszentmihalyi. Reprinted with permission.
Csikszentmihalyi references flow to describe the act and process of creativity, and
suggests nine elements contribute to flow, ascertained through interviews with eclectic,
creative people:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

There are clear goals every step of the way.

There is immediate feedback to ones actions.
There is a balance between challenges and skills.
Actions and awareness are merged.
Distractions are excluded from consciousness.
15

6.
7.
8.
9.

There is no worry of failure.

Self-consciousness disappears.
The sense of time becomes distorted.
The activity becomes an end in itself, or autotelic.

The author contends that the feeling of creativity or flow occurs when a persons
body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something
difficult and worthwhile (1990a, p. 99). Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi (2006)
suggests creativity is a component of positive psychology that leads to a purposeful life.
Positive emotions expand ones thought and action ranges such as joy, which enhances
continued processing and behavior. Csikszentmihalyi continues that intellectual and
artistic behavior is inspired and motivated by psychological cognition and emotion.
Csikszentmihalyi (1996) advocates a holistic or integrated approach to
understanding creativity. He suggests that analyzing the lives of creative people provides
guidance and information regarding a healthy life just as physicians study healthy
individuals for information concerning increased health. From Csikszentmihalyi (1996),
holistic characteristics of the experience of creativity can be sought through semi-guided
research questions from an artists perspective, which provide psychological and
scientific insight.
Systems View of Creativity Model
Kaufman and Sternberg (2007) affirm Csikszentmihalyis (1990) concept of
creativity by suggesting flow refers to sensations and feelings felt by an individual when
engulfed in a creative experience. Finke, Ward, and Smith (1992) add cognitive concepts
to the idea of flow, allowing explanation of the flow process to relate to original,
innovative, and novel postulations. The personal experience of creativity allows for
16

individual expression of how and why people create, what they feel, and what they
attribute to internal and external creativity.
Csikszentmihalyis (1988) systems view of creativity model suggests creative
output occurs at the intersection of individual, domain, and field. Domain comprises
knowledge within a realm of creative expression, and field comprises the social context
that surrounds the creative artist, as seen in the systems view of creativity (Figure 3).
Sternberg (2006a) noted that Csikszentmihalyis (1988) creativity domain and field
theory includes both the collegial network in the domain and the broader social and
public institutions of the society (p. 432).
Systems View of Creativity

CULTURE

Domain
Selects novelty

Field

Do
Doman

Produces
novelty

Transmits
information
Individual

PERSONAL
BACKGROUND

SOCIETY

Stimulates Novelty

Figure 3. Csikszentmihalyis (1988) Systems View of Creativity. This figure presents the
comprehensive elements responsible for the creative process. From Handbook of
Creativity (p. 315), by R. Sternberg, 1999, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Copyright by Cambridge University Press. Reprinted with permission.
17

Csikszentmihalyi's (1988) systems model allows for a comprehensive and holistic

approach to understanding creativity. Csikszentmihalyi purported that society must give
credence to individual creativity since ideas are first communicated by individuals and
then, when recognized as original or novel, expand to culture and society.
Csikszentmihalyi discussed both individual and social contexts as part of his systems
creativity theory, substantiating creativity as a mental activity expressed through
interaction between ones thoughts and a social cultural context. The author argues that
individual creativity is relative to social and cultural ideation in a system type of
perspective.
Geneplore Model of Creative Cognition
Finke et al. (1992) developed the geneplore model of creative cognition (Figure
4), as an extension of a previous frameworkthe geneplore model of creative
functioning. The earlier framework portrayed initial cognition of ideas that are generated,
analyzed, and explored until expressions or outcomes are yielded. Sternberg and Lubart
(1996) contend that the geneplore model is the most detailed and nearly complete of all
creativity research models. Generative processes include retrieving memories, developing
associations among memories, and developing new cognitions stemming from memories,
and analogical transfer of cognition between domains and categorization of concepts.
Exploratory processes include searches for novel or desired ideas by siphoning what one
chooses to pursue. The geneplore model includes pre-inventive structures as a cognitive
visualization that transitions toward creative production. Exploration and interpretation
operate simultaneously with pre-inventive structures toward creative production. Product
18

constraint operates within this model by directing the creative process toward a medium,
time allowances, and resource limitations. Finke et al. suggest that this process repeats
continuously, and applies to all other creativity systems and models.
The Geneplore Model of Creativity
Focus or
Expand
Concept
Generative of
Pre-inventive
Structures

Pre-inventive
Exploration and
Interpretation

Product
Constraints

Figure 4. The basic structure of the geneplore model. Pre-inventive structures are
constructed during an initial, generative phase, and are interpreted during an exploratory
phase. Resulting creative insights can then be focused on specific issues or problems, or
expanded conceptually, by modifying the pre-inventive structures and repeating the
cycle. From Creative Cognition: Theory, Research and Applications (p. 193), by Finke et
al., 1992, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Reprinted with permission.
Since behaviorism assisted in legitimizing the study of behavior, and cognitive
psychology assisted with the study of the human mind, creative cognition is expected to
legitimize the study of creativity. Finke et al. (1992) explain that generative structures
can be collected memories (i.e., provision of structures), diagrams, or possibilities
designating a basis for the creative process. Structure, exploration, and interpretation
19

might interact repeatedly, compelling creativity forward. Creative output might be limited
through restricted finances, time, product unavailability, health problems, addiction, and
personal relationships.
Psychopathology and Creativity Model
Eysenck (1995) developed a model of creativity related to psychopathology,
including individual ego strength and creative actualization. Eysenck contends that
family traits, combined with knowledge and memory, must be apparent within the artistic
genius. He studies empirical correlations of psychopathology, genius, and high
intelligence through development of the psychopathology diagram.
Psychopathology

Figure 5. Psychopathology. This figure depicts diverse aspects of ego strength as

correlated with creativity and psychopathology. From Genius (p. 122), by H.L. Eysenck,
1995, New York: Cambridge University Press. Copyright 1995 Cambridge University
Press. Reprinted with permission.

20

Paradoxical correlations suggest that the creative person combines two normally
disparate traits of personality. This unusual correlation of ego-strength and
psychopathology may be one answer to those who fail to find schizophrenia unusually
frequent among geniuses thus clinical schizophrenia would be in the high pathology-low
ego-strength quadrantpsychotics are not creative, but geniuses and creative people
generally show quite marked psychopathology (Eysenck, 1995, p. 123). Eysencks
psychopathology correlations present two normally divergent personality traits merging
within creative individuals. Although some psychopathology might be present in creative
individuals, extreme pathology or psychosis inhibits creativity.
Kaufman and Beghetto (2009) developed the four C model of creativity, which
extends the big C and little C creativity model by adding mini C and pro C components.
The model represents longitudinal development, extending over time, beginning with the
mini C or intrapersonal and process focus of creativity, moving toward the little C or
everyday creativity found in many people. Little C moves toward pro C creativity status
of professional creators, who received training but have not reached eminent status of the
big C creators. However, mini C and little C might fluctuate between each other without
transitioning toward the pro C status. The authors acknowledge the need for continued
understanding of creativity, and suggest that the four C model offers a lifetime span
framework for use in combination with other creativity models.

21

Complete Four C Model of Creativity

Figure 6. The Complete Four C Model of Creativity. This model represents transitional
periods and destinations of the creative process. From Beyond Big and Little: The Four C
Model of Creativity (p. 7) by J. Kaufman and R. Beghetto (2009). Review of General
Psychology, 13(1), 1-12.1-12. Copyright 2009 by American Psychological Association.
Reprinted with permission.
Weisberg (2010) examines three aspects of the creative individual: a) genius, b)
psychopathology, and c) cognitive and personality characteristics. The CHOICES model
of creativity suggests everyone has the potential to create.

22

Table 1. The CHOICES MODEL of CREATIVITY: Implications for Policy.

Creative thinking
component
Habitual: within the box

Short-term implications

Policy implications

Expect creativity from

noncreative people

Ordinary: everyone is
capable of creative
thinking

Expect creativity from

noncreative people

Incremental: small steps

Expect hard work for small

advances, hard work for a long
time for major advances
Do not expect insights out of the
blue; expect hard work

Education: provides would

be creative thinkers with
the relevant database
Educate people on the way
creative advances come
about, eliminate
stratification into creative
versus noncreative,
broaden opportunities
Establish support systems
for creative activities

Conscious: conscious
work
Evolutionary: builds on
what is available

Make available as wide a

database as possible creative
thinking as an inherently
collaborative activity

Sensitive to external
events; influenced by
context

Creative advances will sometimes

be in response to external events

Establish support systems

for creative activities
Make problems available
to a wide range of people;
change structure of the
environment, including
intellectual environment,
surrounding creativity
Educate people on the way
creative advances come
about; provide access to a
broad range of sources

Note: The CHOICES Model of Creativity: Implications for Policy. The model represents
conscious choice and comprehensive associations of creativity. From The study of
creativity: from genius to cognitive science (p. 247) by R. Weisberg (2010). International
Journal of Cultural Policy 16 (3), 235-253. Copyright 2010 by Routledge-Taylor &
Francis. Reprinted with permission.
Weisberg (2010) contends that ordinary thought processes underlie creative
expression, and that all ideas arrive from a prior recognition. The author suggests that
with time, all creativity matures and enhances. Weisberg studies creativity through the
Beatles performance years, and reports music releases, finding that creativity increased
over time. From 1957 to 1966, Beatles songs and performances more than tripled,
indicating enhanced creativity.
23

Review of Creativity Research

Since Guilfords (1950) public presentation of creativity to the American
Psychological Association, the subject has gained momentum in psychological and
scientific communities. Guilford notes, Considerable agreement that the complete
creative act involves four important steps, traditionally identified as (a) preparation, (b)
incubation, (c) illumination, and (d) verificationSuch an analysis is very superficial
from the psychological point of view. It is more dramatic than it is suggestive of testable
hypotheses. It tells us almost nothing about the mental operations that actually occur (p.
451). Guilfords presentation erupted critical thinking among psychologists, who then
commenced with the study of mental operations related to the experience of creativity, as
opposed to physical processes.
Most creativity analysis has been conducted in psychology, but has continued to
gain interest. Creativity research remains limited, as Sternberg (1999) notes, Less than
.2% of the entries in Psychological Abstracts were devoted to creativity (p. 3). Feist and
Runco (1993) report that as of 1995, there have been only two scholarly journals
dedicated to creativity: Encyclopedia of Creativity and Creativity Research Journal (p.
4). Feldman, Csikszentmihalyi, and Gardner (1994) argue, The amount of research on
creativity has increased during the past two decades but still lags far behind most
mainstream topics on psychology (p. 231). Runco and Pritzker (2011) developed the
Encyclopedia of Creativity , presenting topics from the obscure to the eccentric. The
authors assert that creativity research is comprised predominantly of psychologists, but
interest continues to expand in various scientific communities.
24

Runco (2009) initiated the Creativity Research Journal and Psychology of Arts
and Creativity and Aesthetics Journal (2007b), which dominate in the scientific study of
creativity. Creativity is highlighted as paramount for living a healthy, positive life in the
Handbook of Positive Psychology, authored by Snyder and Lopez (2009). The handbook
contains compilations from scientists, scholars, and researchers who have investigated
theories, historical dynamics, case studies, psychological complexities, and direct
creativity applications. The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity, written by Kaufman and
Sternberg (2010), showcases concepts and perspectives, providing insights into the
creativity phenomenon.
Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi (2006) characterizes creativity as a central
source of life; Most of the things we find interesting, important, and human are the
results of creativitywhen we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully
than during the rest of life (p. 1). Csikszentmihalyi (1996) notes that although some
consider research on creativity a luxury or distraction from the mundane, the need for
creativity has never been so appropriate for addressing complexities of war, violence,
hunger, homelessness, addiction, and hopelessness (p. 10). Csikszentmihalyi argues that
creativity is a powerful force for both individuals and societies.
Investigations of creative people range extensively from personality, intellect,
temperament, physique, traits, habits, attitudes, to self-concept, value systems, defense
mechanisms and behavior (Rhodes, 1987, p. 218). Other investigations examine
intelligence, cognitive abilities, and personality traits (Barron & Harrington, 1981;
Guilford, 1950; MacKinnon, 1970). Some research includes technical skills (Getzels &
25

Csikszentmihalyi, 1976), and psychopathologies and neuroticism (Eysenck 1993;

MacKinnon, 1962, 1970). Researchers who employ inclusive creativity research
strategies offer vast definitions and analyses, contending the field as abstract and
immense (Feldhusen & Goh, 1995; Jarboe, 1999; Ochse, 1990; Sternberg, 1999).
Simonton (1994) studies the psychological perspectives of creativity, and
contends that many psychologists are studying the forest not the trees. To understand the
complexities of the forest, one must study each type of tree and life system within the
forest. Simonton offers a historiometric perspective, following the creative person over a
life span and comparing individuals by birth order, intellectual precocity, childhood
trauma, family background, education and special training, role models, and mentors. He
offers facets and curvilinear periods of individual creative artistic production related to or
activated by a life event, occurring randomly. Simonton adheres to Mednicks (1962)
remote associates test (RAT), an associative interpretation of cognition. Mednick
searches for cognitive processes that underlie creative associations of high and low
creative individuals when stimulated. The test has been used to determine a persons
understanding of the process and potential for creativity.
Martindale (1990) applies creativity historiometry that demonstrates broad,
comprehensive, long-term trends and consequences of creativity. Primordial cognition
produces arousal or stimulation of the subconscious or conscious mind, which leads to
original and innovative creativity. Martindales hypothesis states that increased
primordial cognition increases the arousal potential of a creative outcome, and decreases
both primordial cognition and arousal when novel creativity satisfies habituation. The
26

study compartmentalizes 650 years into 33 twenty-year historical timeframes, using the
work of seven eminent poets from each period. Results suggest creativity fluctuates
across nations, cultures, ages, and even civilizations. Sawyer (2006) contends that
historiometric research offers significant results that should be recognized.
Primordial Cognition and Arousal Potential

Figure 7. Martindales Primordial Cognition and Arousal Potential. The plot depicts
arousal of creativity over a period with 7 eminent artists. From Explaining Creativity, (p.
165) by K. Sawyer, 2006, New York: Oxford University Press. Copyright 2006 by
Oxford University Press. Reprinted with permission.
Creativity research conducted by Zabelina and Robinson (2010a) utilized three
measurement tools: the Torrance test of creative thinking (TTCT), abbreviated Torrance
test for adults, (Torrance, 1974), and creativity achievement questionnaire (CAQ)
(Carson, Peterson, & Higgins, 2003). Using the ATTA and CAQ, Zabelina and Robinson
(2010a) suggest that highly creative individuals have higher cognitive flexibility than
non-creative or less-creative people. The ability to switch between processing modes was
27

more rapid among highly creative individuals. Limitations of the study were lack of
participant diversity and age homogeneity.
Internal Creativity Research
Internal creativity research relates to organic, inner processes of the experiences
of creativity, originating in the brain and actualizing through a tangible art medium.
Psychological elements of creativity contain components of genius, psychopathology,
and addiction. Spirituality is an internal catalyst of creative artistic expression through
inspiration, vision, and personal experience.
Andreasen (2005) and Heilman (2005) examine creativity and the brain.
Andreasen (2005) suggests creativity allows immense thought and vision, intense
introspection, and free association. The human brain is certainly the most complicated
organ in the body, and it may be the most complicated device on earth, or perhaps even
in the universe (p. 50). Heilman (2005) asserts that the brain gathers information from
both external and internal sources, and agrees with Andreasen (2005) regarding mental
cognition and memories as igniters of the creative experience. Dietrich (2004) argues
that understanding the location in the brain where creativity originates and how it
originates is crucial to continued study of the experience of creativity. Four types of
creativity expressed by Dietrich are found within the processing mode, containing
deliberate and spontaneous methods that correlate with emotional and cognitive
processes of creative origins.

28

Knowledge of Domains-Creativity Types

Figure 8. Knowledge of Domain-Creativity Types. This figures shows four domains of

creativity. From The cognitive neuroscience of creativity, (p. 1018), by A. Dietrich,
(2004), Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 11 (6). Copyright 2004 by Psychonomic
Society, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
Dietrich and Kanso (2010) argue, To most neuroscientists, the prospect of
looking for creativity in the brain must seem like trying to nail jelly to the wall (p. 822).
Understanding the experience of creativity must first be realized through internal and
external origins as foundations to understanding the experience of creativity.
Personal trait elements of creativity : Researchers purport that creativity is a
product of nature and/or nurture origins. Richards, Kinney, Lunde, Benet and Merzel
(1988) hypothesize that predisposition associates with creative individuals. Focusing on
creativity and mental illness, she notes that close relatives of creative people often
demonstrate some form of mental illness, with propensity for manic depression, anxiety,
or depression diagnoses. Richards et al. asserts that increased creativity implicates in
bipolar and cyclothymes, but where psychiatric disturbance was greater, creativity
29

reduced. Liability for manic-depressive illness may carry advantages for creativity,
perhaps particularly among those individuals who are relatively better functioning (p.
281).
The lifetime creativity scale (LCS) was used (Table 2) by Richards, Kinney,
Lunde, Benet and Merzel(1988) studying 382 psychologically diagnosed subjects and
159 control subjects, highlighting creative association to relatives. Richards et al. (1988)
found support for their hypotheses (Table 2), finding higher creativity within people with
creative relatives. Psychopathology was also found in those whose relatives reported
psychopathology.
Table 2. CREATIVITY and DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES on FIVE DIAGNOSTIC
GROUPS

Notes: Creativity and Demographic Variables on Five Diagnostic Groups. From

Creativity in manic-depressives, cyclothymes, their normal relatives, and control
subjects, by R. Richards, K. Kinney, and I. Lunde et al. 1988, Journal of Abnormal
Psychology, 97, p.284. Copyright 1988 by American Psychological Association.
Reprinted with permission.
30

Richards, Kinney, Lunde, Benet and Merzel(1988) reported that their results
(Table 2) support the LCS premise that degree of creativity involvement relates with
peaked creative experience, suggesting quantity and quality correlate (p. 484). Richards
(2009) argued creativity is a process, way of life, advanced thinking, and heightened
experience that leads to self-awareness and actualization.
Psychological elements of Creativity: Psychological elements of creativity relate
to psychopathological factors, mood affect, medication, drug and alcohol use, life
experiences, and personality. Barron (1972), Barton and Cattell (1972), Csikszentmihalyi
and Getzels (1973), Feist (1999), Storr (1988), and Walker, Koestner, and Hum (1995)
argue that creative individuals are more open to novel ideas, less conforming, driven,
independent, ambitious, and more emotional and impulsive than non-creative people.
Runcos (2007a) threshold theory (see Figure 10) provides psychological support for the
connection between intelligence and creativity. The authors examine resulting in a
scatterplot, portraying the significance of high intelligence and high creativity potential.

31

Theory of Threshold

Figure 9. The theory of threshold scatterplot shows a direct relationship between high
intelligence and high creative potential. From Creativity: Theories and Themes:
Research, Development, and Practice (p. 7), by M. Runco, 2007, Burlington,
MA:Elsevier Academic Press. Copyright 2007 by Elsevier, Inc. Reprinted with
permission.
Suggesting the presence of intelligence within creative people, the authors
contend that creativity and intelligence are not interdependent, but are more often
dependent. Threshold theory suggests that there is a minimum level of intelligence (the
lower threshold) below which the person cannot be creative. Instead of concluding that
creativity and intelligence are one and the same, or that creativity and intelligence are
entirely distinct, threshold theory describes that possibility that they are related, but only
at certain levels of ability (Runco, 2007a, p. 7). Postulation suggests that although
intelligence is constant within genius, not all intelligent people are creative, artistic,
genius, or gifted.
Some researchers argue that a creative person has higher intelligence than a noncreative person (Barron & Harrington, 1981; Gardner, 1993; Guilford, 1950; Sternberg,
1985). In addition to intelligence, researchers describe personality as paramount in
32

creative individuals, relating to free spirit, unconventionality, non-conformism,

independence, risk-taking, and bohemian (i.e., alternative) typologies. Free and openminded apparent behaviors and cognitive plasticity were not observed readily in noncreative people (Barron, 1969; Haller & Courvoisier, 2010; MacKinnon, 1978;
Martindale, 1989; Simonton, 1999). Gerard (1774) suggests artists permeate chaotic and
tenuous lifestyles and relationships, and Barron (1995) argues that artists exhibit external
disorder, but the artist contends creativity produces internal order.
Simonton (1984) asserted that highly creative people open to unique and new
experiences foster divergent and innovative thinking; creative people are more malleable
cognitively and behaviorally, allowing a deeper sense of autonomous and independence,
and comprehensive life experience. Simonton contends that artists are more likely to
suffer mental health disorders, addiction, and instability than scientific and mathematical
counterparts; artistic minds are dissimilar to others. Simonton (2005) avows that the
cognitive process works in different brain hemispheres, promoting artistic personalities
inclusive of adventure, nonconformist risk-taking, open minds, and avant-garde and
bohemian propensities that allow heightened emotional psychological responses.
Richards (2009) suggested creativity is a positive and desired trait capable of
promoting affirmative and joyous life experiences. Richards examines the complexities
of creativity directed at the words, images, and concepts artists use when discussing
deeply unique creative experiences. Words such as "Mysterious," "intuitive," "in the
flow," "the zone," "spiritual," satisfied, "altered state of being," "unworldly," "out ofbody," mystical, on fire, orgasmic, peaceful, and contented were descriptions
33

of feelings and emotions offered by creative individuals. The author argues that creative
artists experientially know creativity is extraordinary without societal decision.
Runco and Richards (1997) demonstrated the significance of mental illness and
creativity in first-degree relatives of writers. Results suggested that with relatives pooled
(i.e., parents and siblings), mental illness is significant in both creative writers and their
relatives, with control groups demonstrating less significance. High correlations among
siblings, creativity, and mental illness were evident, supporting connections between
creativity and mental illness.
Andreasen (2005) compared 30 creative and 30 non-creative writers first-degree
relatives, arguing for higher rates of affective disorders (i.e., bipolar and unipolar
depression). The author used people with well-recognized creative achievements, and
findings suggest 28 of 30 participants demonstrated high creativity and a form of mental
illness (i.e., affective disorder, bipolar, etc.). Two of 30 were used as control participants.
Relatives of the writers were noted to be creative and have mental illnesses in 21 of 28
cases. Limitations of study included a small sample and use of only one creative medium.
Ludwig (1992a) devised the creative achievement and psychopathology (Table 3)
study, stemming from chi-square analyses and univariate analyses of variance, suggesting
higher rates of psychopathology and treatment for all people in creative art media, in
comparison to other professions. Ludwig notes, Logistic regression or multiple
regression analysis did not present an alteration of study prominent findings when
factoring gender or race (p. 345).

34

Table 3. LUDWIGS CREATIVE ARTS versus OTHER PROFESSIONS

Notes: Ludwigs Creative Arts versus Other Professions. From Imminent Creativity,
Everyday Creativity and Health (p. 50), by M. Runco and R. Richards, Greenwich, CT:
Ablex Publishing Corporation. Copyright 1997 by Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Reprinted with permission.
Ludwigs (1992a) study tested three hypotheses: a) no differences among various
professional groups regarding psychopathology; those representing the creative arts
demonstrate more emotional difficulties than those in other vocations; b) no differences
among various professional groups regarding creative achievement; those in the creative
arts demonstrate greater accomplishments; and c) no form of psychopathology relates to
creative achievement, irrespective of profession. Ludwigs (1992a) sample consisted of
1028 subjects whose biographies were reviewed by the New York Times Book Review
35

over a 30-year period (1960 to 1990). Ludwig (1992a) stated, Differences were found
among the various professional groups, with those in the creative arts being at greater risk
for psychopathology. Further, a significant relationship was found between certain
measures of psychopathology and creative achievement (p. 349). Limitations of this
study included exclusively eminent creative people as subjects and limited professions
examined.
Comorbidity is also apparent in the creative population due to cognitive and
psychopathological relationships between mental health disorders and the creative
experience. Heilman (2005) argued, Depression might not enhance creative production,
but it might be important in creative inspiration and innovation (p. 136). Eckbald and
Chapman (1986) suggested hypomania (i.e., mental illness) correlates with creative
ideation, endless energy, euphoria, and an excessive drive for success. Heilman (2005)
suggested a high occurrence of substance abuse and psychopathology among creative
people, and lower incidences in others. Some creative people indicated that the creative
process ignited when using drugs and alcohol; others reported that substances inhibited
their cognitive functions, resulting in minimal or absence of creativity. Heilman
purported that creativity did not induce affective disorders, but that the brains of creative
people may induce affective disorders.
Carson (2011) supported the model of shared vulnerability when explaining the
relationship between creativity and psychopathology. Creativity research regarding mood
disorders suggests creative artists carry a higher risk of bipolar disorder. Mild forms of
bipolar disorderexpressed by Virginia Wolfemight be beneficial to creative output.
36

Carson argued that alcoholism, drug addiction, and psychopathology are often treated
with medications, but cognitive behavioral therapy might be the most viable treatment.
The author added that pharmaceuticals might inhibit the creative process by dulling
senses essential to creative production. Alternatively, cognitive processes of creative
thinking might be stimulated with treatment, allowing for both descent and assent into
fathomless creativity. Carson (2011) suggested family mental illness enhances risk for
psychopathology (e.g., depression, schizophrenia, and addiction) to interact with
cognitive factors (i.e., high intelligence and enhanced memory) when processing creative
ideation. Carson correlated creativity and mood disorders between creative and noncreative cognitive processes. Lubow (1989) supported this premise in a latent inhibition
experiment, suggesting what is apparent in the minds of some is absent in the minds of
others. Carson, Peterson, and Higgins (2003) argued that both creative and non-creative
experiences exist among creative and non-creative individuals.
Kaufman, Bromley, and Cole (2006) agreed that personality traits of excessive
emotionality, compelling obsessions, ruminations, perverse introspections, lack of social
conformity, isolation, depression, and addiction associate with episodic creative
experiences. Complexities of creative individuals were also identified in the five-factor
inventory test (NEO-FFI), inclusive of neuroticism, conscientiousness or lack of
consciousness, introversion, and lack of agreeableness or conformity (Eysenck, 1995;
Getzels & Csikszentmihalyi, 1976; MacKinnon, 1978). Kaufman (2006) developed the
Kaufman domains of creativity scale (K-DOCS) to study creativity in 2,318 California
university students. Kaufman developed a self-reporting, 50-question test containing 5
37

domains of study: self/everyday, scholarly, performance (i.e., writing and music),

mechanical/scientific, and artistic. The big-five personality scale (Goldberg, 1999) was
used in Kaufmans tests, including extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness,
emotional stability, and openness to experience. Kaufman suggested that future research
should examine gender, culture, specific populations and domains, and other, selfreported measurements. Conflicting personality traits or polarities are apparent in creative
musicians. McMullan (1978) asserted that a creative personality is characterized by seven
schisms: 1) openness versus drive to complete incomplete gestalts, 2) high level of
fantasy versus strong sense of reality, 3) destructive versus constructive attitudes, 4) cool
neutrality versus passionate engagement, 5) self-centeredness versus altruism, 6) selfdoubt versus self-confidence, 7) tension versus relaxedness (p. 150). McMullan
portrayed a creative person as a prodigy of emotional consciousness, from where
polarities flourish. Cropley (1992) similarly comments that artists contain a bundle of
paradoxes with complex temperaments that include both toughness and sensitivity (p.
8). Csikszentmihalyi (1996) argues that artists present thoughts and actions most would
define contradictory and controversial. Like the color white that includes all the hues in
the spectrum, they tend to bring together the entire range of human possibilities within
themselves (p. 47).
Jamison (1993) expressed mood and creativity when she proposed that
measurements of creative efficiency relate to upswings in mood, amplifying
interconnected systems of enhanced sensory perception, crucial to the creative process.
Jamison suggested that major depressive illness is 8 to 10 times as prevalent in writers
38

and artists. She presented Virginia Wolfe, Ernest Hemmingway, Sylvia Plath, and
Vincent Van Gogh among eminent artists who committed suicide, suffering from
depression. Jamison contended that writers and artists are 10 times more likely to commit
suicide than non-creative people are, with poets demonstrating the highest rate (p. 89).
Plato (trans. 1956) suggested poets, philosophers, and dramatists suffer from divine
madness, and Aristotle was among the first to associate poets with melancholia (p. 51).
SUICIDE RATES IN WRITERS AND ARTISTS

Figure 10. Suicide Rates in Writers and Artists. From Touched with Fire (p. 89), by K.R.
Jamison, 1993, New York: Free Press. Copyright 1993 by Kay Redfield Jamison.
Reprinted with permission.
Cognitive elements of creativity: Chi (1997) explains that once an original
cognition attaches itself to a previous one, the new cognition is encoded permanently.
This process reoccurs, allowing new and original attachments to form onto and from prior
attachments and creating aha moments (p. 230). Chi suggests creativity emerges when
39

the cognitive process is inspired, desired, or brought forth through cognitive intention.
Weisberg (1999) suggests cognition relates to creative experiences, requiring new
theoretical applications related to comprehensive and holistic inclusions. Guilfords
(1950) theory of divergent thinkingwhereas free thinking combined with personality
and confluence are predispositions of an individuals capacity for creativitywas
supported by Weisberg (1999); creativity is a cognitive process whereby individuals are
distinguished from others by their expertise and commitment to interests.
Jung (1955) postulates that intuition and cognition guide one toward creativity.
Intuitive insights offer non-concrete but touchable apprehensions of underlying truths,
informing a creators view of life; The artistic vision is not something derived or
secondary and it is not a symptom of something else. It is true symbolic expressionthat
is, the expression of something existent in its own right, but imperfectly known (p. 169).
Arecchi (2010) describes creativity cognition as receiving an impression or stimulus from
the environment from which a reaction occurs, pursuing creative cognition. Controlling
chaos of an emerging stimulus allows for synchronization of cognition, thus allowing
creativity to emerge. Relatedly, Eisner (1994) suggests conception, development,
origination, and transformation of any work must contain an emotional constituent and
personal purposeful attempt. Creativity associates with artists who bring personal
passions to what they create, develop, and express to the world.
Spiritual elements of creativity: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV
(DSM IV) included the new category spiritual emergency, implying creativity might
be a result of a spiritual rather than a psychotic crisis in those who create (Piirto, 2004,
40

p. 26). The spiritual element of the creative experience is part of a holistic composition
that is a motivator of creativity or a consistent component. Myers (1976) postulates an
existential view of creativity in which knowledge derives from higher strata. He argues
that the brain has the ability to access higher strata to integrate and filter knowledge and
experiences into common, normal consciousness. Myers believes humans have the ability
to experience and perceive entire streams of consciousness and can transition ordinary
waking consciousness into creativity.
Spirituality relates to creativity in positive life experiences and positive
psychology; What the creator feels is joy, joy defined as the emotion that goes with
heightened consciousness, the mood that accompanies the experience of actualizing ones
own potentialities (May, 1975, p. 45). Mays research offers greater depth of
understanding of the creative experience, addressing intimate, personal, and individual
life experiences. May supports that creativity is ones expression of passion, seeking to
achieve harmony within ones soul as the consummation of positive psychology.
Zabelina and Robinson (2010b) portrayed self-compassion as an element of spirituality,
relating to the mind in a positive state during which creativity is more apt to flow.
Negative self-thoughts might hinder inspiration and free-thinking, causing the creative
process to be stifled. A self-compassionate mindset may facilitate higher levels of
creative originality (p. 288.) Positive thinking and self-worth allow optimum and
vigorous brain functions since individuals view themselves as compassionate, confident,
and positive. Gilbert (2009) suggests self-compassion stems from Buddhist thought; one
who is more disciplined holistically experiences increased creative thoughts and actions.
41

Cropley (2001), Kashdan, Rose, and Fincham (2004) support Zabelina and
Robinson (2010b) in magnifying the importance of positive cognition for creative
production, self-expression, self-examination, and self-evaluation. Self-compassion and
self-criticism, it is suggested, are particularly relevant in understanding whether the
individual can ignore the self-censure often propose to be inimical to original creative
thinking (Zabelina & Robinson, 2010b, p. 292).
Native American creativity relates closely to spiritual aspects of Buddhism
regarding introspection, mindfulness, expression, and gratitude. The Native walk is a
holistic method of life-asserting interaction between mind, body, cognition, and behavior.
Native American spirituality suggests all things relate to mother earth, the phrase
Mitakuye Oyasin states that we are all related. Energy that passes through all things is
the spiritual connection and creative inspiration within the experience of creativity.
External Creativity Research
External creativity research is comprised of elements of gender, culture, ethnicity,
family/peers/community, and societal elements when understanding or defining the
individual experience of creativity.
Gender elements of creativity: Gender research provides historic and
sociological factors in male and female creativity. Kaufman and Sternberg (2010)
suggested gender distinctions as related to creativity were associated to social positions of
women and men at home and in the work place. Researchers argue that the trend of
creativity differentiated by gender is narrowing due to changes in contemporary society
(Lubart, 1999; Ludwig, 1992b). After the civil rights movement, women were afforded
42

more creative opportunities in the home, at work, and in society. Stoltzfus, Nibbelink,
Vredenburg, and Thyrum (2011) conducted a quantitative study featuring 57 males and
79 females from ages 17 to 31. They used the Torrance test of creative thinking (TTCT)
and the personal attributes questionnaire (PAQ), a 24-item self-report scale that assesses
psychological elements of masculine (m) and feminine (f) behaviors. Four categories
were noted: androgynous (high m and f), masculine (high m, low f), feminine (high f, low
m), and undifferentiated (low m and f). Results suggest higher means and standard
deviation for androgynous participants since androgynous individuals had the highest
creativity scores (M = 4.06, SD = 1.71), followed by males (M = 3.23, SD = 1.88),
females (M = 3.08, SD = 1.84), and undifferentiated individuals ( M = 1.85, SD = 1.21) (p.
430). The authors argue that the relationship between gender role and creativity was
significantly influenced by gender (p. 431).
Female poets reported substantially more psychopathology than men. Poets
contained the highest rates of depression and psychosis across all artistic creative media
(Kaufman & Baer, 2002; Ludwig, 1994; Martindale, 1972; Piirto, 1991; Post, 1994).
Eminent poet Sylvia Plath expressed emotional disturbances, and fiction writers Virginia
Woolf and Charlotte Bronte mentioned that psychopathology interfered with their
abilities to produce and create. LaViolette (2007) noted that Virginia Woolf described
her creative experience as mood waves of creativity since during Woolfs depths of
depression, her creativity was inhibited (p. 52-54).
Ludwig (1994) researched 59 female writers and 59 female members of a
comparison group, finding high rates of emotional disorders in female writers and
43

correlations between creativity and psychopathology. Ludwig suggests that external

factors of family and environment influenced the findings; the demands of personal
issues limit the influence on creativity. Similarly, Stoltzfus et al. (2011) supports
Karwowskis (2011) contention that the female role contains energy and time limitations
regarding creative pursuits.
Many young women are expected to invest personal resources to meet social
demands such as laying the foundation for establishing a family and initiating
child rearing. Furthermore, the skills involved in using these social role
obligations may be inconsistent with the attributes that typify highly creative
individuals. (Stoltzfus et al., 2011, p. 430)
Gender disparities are noted in prior recognition of male artists, but generally no
differences exists in the creative potential between genders (Abra & Valentine-French,
1991; Baer & Kaufman, 2008). Research suggests that creative self-efficacy is a
hypothesis to variance in gender-reported creativity differences, that self-reports between
men and women present differences in expression of personal creativity (Abra and
Valentine-French, 1991; Furnham and Bachtiar, 2008; Kaufman, 2006 ). Karwowski
(2011) reported that males rate themselves higher at creative significance than females in
28 areas. Female self-reported creativity is higher in 15 areas. Karwowski contended that
womens creativity self-efficacy reports connected more to originality and authenticity.
Creativity potential is equal in males and females, though notoriety of male creativity was
publicized and recognized more during past decades.
Prior to the civil rights movement, women were often not noticed or respected for
their talents and abilities. It was later that women such as Marie Curie, Virginia Woolf,
Anis Nin, Gertrude Stein, Martha Graham, and Georgia OKeefe were considered
44

geniuses and recognized for artistic contributions. Since the 1960s, women have
increased artistic representation as reputable artists. Eysenck (1995) wrote, One cannot
find a woman in a list of the 100 best painters and sculptors (p. 90). Simonton (1994)
did not find a woman in a list of 120 accomplished composers, and Kaufman and Baer
(2002) argue that women are involved in economic, relationship, family, and other
constraints more often than males, causing deeper life struggles and thus inhibiting
creative experiences.
Culture and ethnic elements of creativity: Kaufman (2006) noted that prior
studies presented few differences in creative abilities across ethnicities. Kaufman
contends the Torrance test for creative thinking (Torrance, 1966, 1974) found no
differences between ethnic groups concerning creative ability. An empirical cultural
study from Leung and Chiu (2008) stressed that increased creativity cognition results
from exposure to multiple ethnicities. The authors argue that creativity is influenced by
multiculturalism due to the acquisition of new ideas and concepts through contact with
foreign lands, diverse environments, and dissimilar behaviors. Cognition is stimulated by
new thoughts, visions, and patterns, allowing stimuli for creativity initiation or
expansion. Leung and Chiu suggest personalities, cultural experiences, cognitive
processes, motivation, and affect are inclusive during creative experiences. Further
multicultural experience might foster creativity by a) providing access to novel ideas
and concepts from other cultures, b) creating the ability to see multiple, underlying
functions behind the same form, c) destabilizing routinized knowledge structures,
increasing accessibility of normally inaccessible knowledge, d) creating psychological
45

readiness to recruit ideas from unfamiliar sources, and e) fostering synthesis of seemingly
incompatible ideas from multicultural groups (Chiu & Leung, 2007, p. 173). Research
into creativity and culture is limited regarding Native Americans. Kaufman (2006) argues
that although programs to assess Native American creativity were proposed nearly 20
years ago (Tonemah, 1987), the number of inquiries regarding Native Americans and
creativity remains inadequate.
Oral (2006) and Shostak (1993) suggest that some Native American cultures
presented men displaying creativity in woodcraft, sculpture, survival, protection
techniques, hunting accouterments, and healing practices. Native women displayed
creativity in elaborate clothing designs, jewelry, basket weaving, rug making, pottery,
and tribal decisions. Abernathy-Tannehill (1998) found that the Cherokee tribe had
comparable test scores to norms reported on the Torrance test of creative thinking, and
others report psychometric creativity assessments that indicate apparent creativity within
this ethnic group. Frank (2001) studies creativity among Kootenai Indians, during which
one of four participants reported nature and spirituality as a source of creativity. This
finding confers with Native American self-reports concerning science-analytic factors.
Geographically dispersed Native American tribes proclaimed a myriad of creative
accomplishments such as planting skills, hunting methods and survival skills. Although
Native art was and is appreciated, culture, spirituality, and societal norms provide limited
respect from national governments and religious entities. Native American creativity
research is inadequate regarding artists, musicians, writers, educators, and politicians.

46

Research into Native American creativity would expand psychological scientific and
scholarly knowledge of the topic.
Family/peers/community elements of creativity: External creativity relates to
influences from peripheral sources, outside the individual. Family, peers, and community
influence the environment in which one creates, and might represent limitations or
advocacy of the creative experience. Gardner (1993) examines the life development of
imminent creative minds such as Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and
Gandhi. He advocates genetic intelligence and environmental lifelong development as
factors in creativity outcomes. Gardner contends that when a child is young and creativity
is noticed, it must be supported, sustained, and nurtured. Gardner believes the artist must
not be stifled, kept from advanced thinking and perception, but allowed to reach full
psychological potential and optimum life experience.
Amabile (1996) combined philosophical, historic, and prior inquiry into creativity
research, leading to the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation is conducive to creativity and
extrinsic motivation is detrimental. Amabile argued that both positive, necessary (i.e.,
intrinsic) and negative, non-essential (i.e., extrinsic) forces relate to complex creative
people; however, the majority of positive results occur when intrinsic motivation
dominated. Piirto (2004) constructed the pyramid of talent development, which contained
seven Is: inspiration, imagery, imagination, intuition, insight, incubation, and
improvisation. Inclusive dynamics of the pyramid are genetics, emotions, cognitive
dynamics, talent domains, thorns or inhibitors, and suns or positive elements. Piirto
(2004) suggests environmental influences (e.g., nurturing home environment,
47

community, culture, and school) are monumental to development of creativity. Further

Piirto (2004) noted that artists who are part of an optimally sized social network are more
likely to exhibit expansive creative ideology than those who remain within a closed circle
or smaller network. McCrae and Costa (1997) argue that creativity relates not only to an
individuals perception, but also to behaviors and motivations toward expanding social
consciousness and increasing creative opportunities.
Gute and Gute (2008) study early lives and family influences of highly creative
people using the complex family framework (Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen,
1993). The authors suggest that creative people contain differentiation found in novel
ideas and unique expressions. A 24-item questionnaire was used with 200 participants,
and findings suggest complex families were high on both stimulation and social support
(integration); differentiated families were high on stimulation and low on social support
(p. 344). Rogers (1954) theory of creative environments suggests creativity is more
likely to occur when psychological safety and freedom of expression are present in
childhood. Early experiences of low support, little safety, and lack of acceptance and love
result in stifled or lack of creativity. Positive childhood experiences contribute to
actualized and apparent adult creativity, and in gaining independence for personal
achievements (Cooper, Grotevant, & Condon, 1983; Howe, 1999; Irwin, 1987; Rogers,
1954).
Conversely, some researchers report that negative childhood experiences increase
creative thinking, proactive cognitions, and motivation. Complexities and disparities
create an energy force of polarities that motivates emotional expression (Albert, 1992;
48

Barron, 1963; Getzels & Jackson, 1962; Helson, 1965). Csikszentmihalyi and Rathunde
(1998) suggest adult experiences of polar systems working independently and
dependently result in creative outcomes across the lifespan, but the occurrence is not
likely during childhood. Among disparate opinions, it is apparent that life experiences
influence the creative process. Family, peers, and community are inclusive of the holistic
influence of the creative experience.
Societal elements of creativity: Sternberg (1988) argued that creativity is
apparent at individual levels (e.g., solving personal problems, unique artistic endeavors,
and managing daily life) and societal echelons (e.g., scientific findings, advanced social
programs, and educational developments). Sternberg (2006a) asserted that partitioning
explicit and implicit psychological theories assists in the understanding creativity,
accomplished by researching internal and external origins. Economics as external
elements related to creativity are present in organizations, businesses, marketing, and
entrepreneurship. Puccio, Murdock, and Mance (2006) and Pink (2005) study creativity,
innovation, and leadership, suggesting contemporary society depends on creative thinkers
for progression and change. Increasing evidence suggests creativity is crucial to
developing innovation in organizations, achieving scientific breakthroughs, and
developing high-quality community education systems (Amabile, 1996;
Csikszentmihalyi, 1996).
Robinson (2001) suggested creativity and society intertwine; humanity relies on
creative diversity. Robinson notes that positive creativity connects humans, and positive
societal creativity addresses war, hunger, violence, oppression, and disease. Routledge,
49

Arndt, Vess, and Sheldon (2008) presented global aspects of creativity as artists
embraced social and cultural issues such as the Vietnam War by creating the Veterans
Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. In addition, music concerts were held to raise
money by artists for Bangladesh and world hunger travesties. Creative positive social
movements such as civil rights, womens movements, human rights, gay rights,
American Indian movements, and no-nukes coalitions contain power to change the world.
Music and the arts are positive, viable means of enhancing social connectivity and
enriching life experiences. Destructive creativity was apparent in the atom bomb, The
Third Reich, slavery, and colonialization of Native Americans.
Sawyer and DeZutter (2009) study distributed creativity comprised of collective
and group experiences, and found innovation continued even after participants found a
successful and comfortable method. The authors argue that group, social, community,
and peer creativity influences must be studied separately from individual creative
influences. Researchers advocate understanding distributed creativity (i.e., a collective
foundation of creativity across cultures, genders, and geographic location) and interaction
analysis (i.e., analyzing creativity characteristics within the individual and society
(Paulus, 2003).
Weisberg (2010) argues that the genius view of creativity shaped opinions of
numerous contemporary psychologists and social media. The marketing phrase outside
the box supports creative and innovative thinking (p. 236). Agreeing with Weisberg,
Pink (2005) purports that contemporary society is engulfed in innovative creativity, and
advancements in organizations and businesses depend on creativity for success. Historic
50

creativity was noted by Lopez and Snyder (2009), signifying the Golden Age as a time of
creative thinkers and societal outpourings, and the Dark Ages were a time when creative
geniuses were rare. The experience of creativity is comprised of internal and external
elements that collectively and comprehensively allow development and expression.
Continued need exists to increase understanding of internal and external elements of
creativity and advance psychological and scientific knowledge.
Research Methodology
This study used qualitative generic thematic analysis developed by Merriam
(1998), which is unlike other approaches since it is not guided by the boundaries of other
qualitative methods, but is expansive in research approach and capabilities. The personal
perspective of the creativity experience of artists from New York State was sought
through various qualitative elements to understand the depth and meaning of the
phenomenon as perceived and expressed by artists (Caelli et al., 2003). Qualitative
generic thematic analysis provides a comprehensive qualitative approach that is versatile
and open to research discovery. Personal descriptors of New York artists were thematized
to reflect reality and investigate the how and why identifiers of creativity (Aronson,
1994; Braun & Clarke, 2006; Caelli et al., 2003). Moustakas (1994) suggested that
researchers with closed minds do not understand the concept of science that deals with
the experience as one perceives it. In this study, the experience of creativity was sought,
experienced, and expressed by seeing the experience as it is.
Qualitative generic thematic analysis is the process of acknowledging and
accepting an individuals personal perceptions and experiences as is, without prejudice or
51

bias and without elaboration on what was expressed. This supports Polkinghornes (1989)
theory of the qualitative process; I understand better what it is like for someone to
experience that (p. 46). The qualitative approach was appropriate for discovering the
experienceor what is it likeof a phenomenon (Creswell, 2007, p. 39). The
phenomenon of inquiry is allowed to let life unfold with each participant as the researcher
purports interview information as credible, reliable, and valid as presented. The
qualitative approach submits the outcome of research arrived at through non-statistical
methods and methods that allow the phenomenon to unfold naturally (Patton, 2002;
Strauss and Corbin, 1990).
Creswell (2007) argues that qualitative generic thematic analysis research allows
psychological advancements, resulting in life transformation of self-identity, sense of self
and personal experience. The investigator of in-depth, qualitative thematic analysis
methodology is passionate and involved intimately in the topic of inquiry, allowing
authentic research content and objective results.
Qualitative generic thematic analysis translates into a solid research design,
gathering information through interviews. Koch (1993) contends that the qualitative
interview is the most enlightening for creativity study; These accounts are from the
artists words, providing a view from inside, lending them a value not available through
inferences from the outside made by scholars (p. 4). Interviewing confirms Kochs
view that the ineffable can be articulated and new insights achieved for the artist through
a process of particulate, far-ranging (and sympathetic) questioning (Koch, 1999, p. 47).

52

Finally, semi-structured, open-ended interviews allow for conversations, from which the
emergence of commonalities of experience, also known as themes, are derived.
The small number of participants during typical qualitative generic thematic
analysis allows for detailed data collection and intense exploration (Polkinghorne, 2005).
Patton (2002) found that the broader relevance of outcome significance from a small
study enhances potential value in continued and advanced investigations. Qualitative
analysis requires participants to be knowledgeable about an experience (Braun & Clarke,
2006, Breakwell, Hammond, Fife-Schaw, & Smith, 2006; Creswell, 2007; Patton, 1999,
2002). Qualitative generic thematic analysis is the process of an individuals personal
perceptions and experiences, accepted and acknowledged as is without prejudice or bias
and without elaborative flourishing on what was expressed.
Denzin and Lincoln (2005) elaborate on distinctions of qualitative analysis as
vital to the dynamics of a study, suggesting researchers study phenomenon in their
natural states, which allows for genuine, individual, and in-depth content. Qualitative
inquiry allows research to delve into intense and complex understandings of a
phenomenon. Eisner (1997) contends that qualitative analysis is legitimate, resulting from
understanding of unique and individual expressions of human emotions, combined with
psychological science.
Researchers have expressed a need for qualitative understanding of the
experiences of creativity. Sass (2001) argued:
In the absence of such studies, there is a sense in which we literally do not know
what we are talking about (or looking at, or counting up in our research studies)
when we speak of creativity, creative psychological processes, or certain types of
psychopathology. (p. 42)
53

Qualitative research is best suited for study of the abstract phenomenon of

creativity due to its exploratory nature and ability to construct understanding by free
association rather than examination through testing, modeling, and theorizing (Guba &
Lincoln, 1981; Smith, Harr, & Van Langenhove, 1995). Nelson (2005) examined
qualitative experiences of creativity as the artist who finds personal meaning in existence,
transferring to outer relationships in the surrounding world. He revealed that meaningfunction or content expression of the experience of creativity itself allows one the
opportunity to introspect toward identity (p. 289). Nelsons findings suggest that
participants view engagement in making art as a process of coming in[to] contact with
an important human potential (p. 145). Nelsons study relates to the significance of
research on the phenomenon of creative experience as artists articulate.
Transferability of research allows for broader phenomenon process
comprehension, and lures future investigation. This study uses a sample of 10
participants, allowing concentrated time and effort for data collection and synthesis.
Broader relevance of outcome significance from a small study enhances potential value in
continued and advanced investigations (Creswell, 2007; Labuschagne, 2003; Patton,
2002; Polkinghorne, 2005). The qualitative approach submits outcomes of research
arrived at through non-statistical methods and methods allowing the phenomenon to
unfold naturally or as it does (Patton, 2002; Strauss and Corbin, 1990).
Qualitative generic thematic analysis allows gathering of information inclusive of
uniqueness and universality of the human experience. Personal creativity was expressed,
reported, presented, and articulated with unique and individual perspectives of artists.
54

The study sets aside prejudgment, bias, and previously assumed information regarding
creativity investigation to obtain the pure, transpired essence of the creative experience.
In support of the qualitative method, May (1975), an existential psychologist who
spent his life engaged in the study of creativity, stated that due to quantitative scientific
objectivity, imagination and personal relevancefoundations of qualitative methods
have reduced in significance.
For many years I have been convinced that something occurs in the creative
working of the imagination that is more fundamentalbut more puzzlingthan
we have assumed in contemporary psychologyart and imagination are often
taken as the frosting to life rather than as the solid food. (p. 124)
The research question, What is the experience of creativity? is sought through
the qualitative thematic analysis process allowing for in-depth, rich, and personal
expressions regarding the experience of creativity.
Theoretical Discussion
This literature review presents creativity theories and creativity research reviews
that comprise the foundation of creativity understanding. Inclusive in these subjects are
internal and external elements of creativity. The literature provides current scientific and
psychological understanding of individual creativity phenomenon, and it is with a
combination of literature and continued acquisition of knowledge that the experience of
creativity is recognized and validated as imperative to positive life quality.
Csikszentmihalyi (1996) expressed the experience of creativity in this way: When we
are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of
lifecreativity also leaves an outcome that adds to the richness and complexity of the
future (p. 2).
55

Theoretical models of creativity pronounce various elements found in people who

experience creativity, presenting the manner in which the experience of creativity might
be indicated through testing and self-report. Although contemporary interest in creativity
is expanding, continued psychological and scientific research is required to understand of
the personal experience of creativity. Sternberg (1999) states, Although creativity
researchers have managed to ask some deep questions, they have generally not succeeded
in answering them (p. 458). Theoretical models of creativity offer complex internal
elements such as psychopathology (Carson, 2011; Jamison, 1993; Mednick, 1962;
Simonton, 2005), psychological cognitive components (Csikzentmihalyi, 1990b; Finke et
al., 1992; Kaufman & Beghetto, 2009; Weisberg, 2010), spiritual, cultural, and societal
relators (Csikzentmihalyi, 1988; Finke et al., 1992; Kaufman and Sternberg, 2007;
Simonton, 1990), and family determinants (Andreasen, 2005; Eysenck, 1995; Runco &
Richards, 1997).
Environmental theories provide the importance of nurturing a young person
toward the creative experience (Csikzentmihalyi & Csikzentmihalyi, 2006; Piirto, 2004;
Sternberg, 1999). Some cultures espouse the intrinsic relationship of art such as that
found in Native American peoples (Abernathy-Tannehill, 1998; Kaufman, 2006; Oral,
2006; Shostak, 1993; Tonemah, 1987). Societal factors of creativity are discussed in the
experience of creativity through historic and time-related creative expressions, examined
in longitudinal studies (Kaufman & Beghetto, 2009; Weisberg, 2010). Creativity
originates in the brain and through intricate processes that emerge and become observable
behaviors in a persons artistic endeavors (Andreasen, 2005; Heilman, 2005). Cognitive
56

factors of the experience relate to emotions evolving from the brain. Emotions are
positive and negative psychological states that influence ones experiences of creativity
(Csikzentmihalyi & Csikzentmihalyi, 2006; Richards, 2009). Thought content is
imperative concerning a persons ability to create, how a person creates, and what is
created.
Psychological theories related to psychopathology add scientific research into the
experience of creativity, and some researchers found psychopathology present in most
artists, relating the experience of creativity to mental states (Carson, 2011;
Csikzentmihalyi, 1996; Heilman, 2005; Simonton, 2005). Some artists demonstrate
greater creativity during manic stages, and others show artistic quality during depression.
Drugs and alcohol relate to the experience of creativity; some artists appear more
sensitive to life situations, rendering them vulnerable to self-medication. Drugs and
alcohol both increase and decrease the effects of the creative experience (Carson, 2011;
Csikzentmihalyi, 1996; Heilman, 2005; Simonton, 2005).
Spirituality is an inspiration or motivation during the personal experience of
creativity (Gilbert, 2009; May, 1975; Piirto, 2004; Myers, 1976; Zabelina & Robinson,
2010b). Many cultures hold spirituality as an integral component of an individual, and
therefore cannot be separated from understanding the unique and creativity expressive
person.
As a factor of creativity, gender has been studied, providing historic references of
past male domination in the arts (Lubart, 1999; Ludwig, 1992). With social changes,
women have proven to be as creative as men, but not as recognized or celebrated. Gender
57

studies suggest that the experiences of women were limited due to child rearing, work,
and personal commitments to others in greater degrees than men (Kaufman & Sternberg,
2010). In American culture, women are equal regarding creative experiences and
abilities, but in many cultures, women are repressed concerning creative liberties
(Ludwig, 1994).
This literature review presents the experiences of creativity as a comprehensive
and holistic phenomenon requiring continued research and investigation. The experience
of creativity is unique to each individual, yet understood globally by others who also
experience the phenomenon. Jung (1955) suggests creativity baffles all attempts at
rational formulation and will forever elude the human understanding (p. 98). Tate (2007)
argues that although all methods of inquiry regarding creativity are imperative and
contribute substantially to academic and scientific findings, further neglect of what it
feels like to be creative may leave us bereft of the very thing that makes creativity so
perfectly, deeply, and terribly human (p. 223). Tate reports holistic characteristics
surrounding the actualization of creativity as a feeling, ability, an activity, pathology, an
orientation to life, a spiritual encounter (p. 90). Relatedly, she discusses a feeling full
person containing abilities for creation such as fluency, flexibility, evaluating, and
synthesizing. Personality traits, including courage and openness to experience, domainspecific knowledge, and skills relate to a person engaged in intrinsic and extrinsic
cognitions, allowing creativity tangibility (p. 90).
This literature review provides a foundation for scientific and psychological
understanding as it relates to the individual experience of creativity. Theoretical models
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and creativity research allow for insights regarding the experience of creativity from its
origination to components of enhancement and production. Internal and external factors
relate to each individual's experience of creativity. It is through understanding of these
factors that substantial recognition of the experience of creativity can be investigated.
Missing from extant research is the experience of creativity from artists in New
York State. This investigation uses qualitative generic thematic analysis as Braun and
Clarke (2006), Caelli et al. (2003), and Merriam (1998) describe. Findings present raw
data, expressed by artists in New York State that were immersed with theoretical and
research literature to enhance scientific and psychological understanding of the
experience of creativity.

59

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of creativity as artists
experience it. The experience of creativity was explored through a comprehensive,
holistic, and psychological approach. This study provides the elements of the experience
of creativity to offer a method for those wishing positive life satisfaction. The study was
designed to increase insights into the experience of creativity and use extant creativity
research as a foundation for investigation. In-depth interviews were conducted to abstract
thematic information and increase understanding of the experience of creativity. The
study gathered data not previously obtained by using qualitative generic thematic
analysis, which was designed to obtain personal creativity perspectives from New York
artists.
Research Design
This study used generic qualitative thematic analysis methodology, which was
developed by Merriam (1998) and expounded on by Braun and Clarke (2006) and Caelli
et al. (2003). Aronson (1994) supports the method for obtaining increased discovery and
depth of research. Sandelowski (2002) adds, Qualitative approaches do not encompass a
single universally understood position. Arising as they do from multiple and evolving
philosophic understandings of the world and the nature of humanity, there are many
different standpoints from which to evaluate qualitative research (p. 247). Qualitative
60

research provides transparency to the experience of a phenomenon as expressed and

perceived by individuals who experience the phenomenon. Experience is both a
quantitative and qualitative term that refers to an individuals subjective interpretation of
a phenomenon. Denzin and Lincoln (2005) suggest that qualitative analysis provides the
opportunity to observe, step inside, make sense of, interpret, and gain understanding of
the world of another, which has the ability to change an individual and, collectively, the
world. Qualitative methodology extracts data obtained directly from participants through
semi-guided interviews that provide free and open dialogue to address a research
question.
Data collection encompassed recorded participant interviews, with researcher
field notes supporting codes, themes, and major themes of significance extracted from
interview transcripts. The researcher reflected on a diagram containing participant
interview schedules depicting the letter C that was used addressing each participant and
letter O that signified a one-hour interview. Each participant was labeled as Participant 1
through 9, and each participant was interviewed for one hour. The table offered
organization of the interviews. Breakwell et al. (2006) propose that 8 and no more than
15 participants are appropriate for qualitative thematic analysis, and contemporary
research includes 9 participants and one interview with each.
Target Population and Participant Sample
The target population from which participants were drawn was inclusive of all
artists who experience creativity, residing anywhere in the world and comprising all ages.
The sample consisted of 9 participants, dependent on achievement of data saturation or
61

when participant information became redundant (Creswell, 2007; McCraken, 1988;

Polkinghorne, 1989). Participants were male and female, were 18 years of age or older,
comprised multiple ethnic backgrounds, engaged in various art media, and resided in
New York State. Requirements for the sample stated that at least three ethnicities as
defined by the 2011 U.S. Census (i.e., White or Caucasian, Black or African American,
Native American, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Asian, or two or more
combined races) be included in the study. The study was inclusive of diverse races,
containing no more than three people of a defined U.S. Census racial category. Artists
each presented their experiences with creativity, as experienced with diverse art media.
Exclusion criteria included participants aged 17 years old or younger, people not
identifying with dissimilar art media, and people not living in New York State.
Participant sampling continued until data saturation was achieved and the research
question was addressed fully. Breakwell et al. (2006) describe data saturation as the point
at which insights into a phenomenon are satisfied, and further contributions are
unnecessary. Purposeful sampling acquired participants who elucidated the particular,
purported in the experience of creativity (Creswell, 2007, p. 126). All participants
provided samples of their art media and artistic experience prior to research approval to
demonstrate artist experiences and qualifications for participation. Interview questions
were relevant to all participants (Breakwell et al., 2006), rendering purposeful sampling
of the research population and sample.
Criterion sampling, a form of purposeful sampling, requires that all participants
be deemed appropriate for a studys foundation. Creswell (2007) notes that when all
62

participants have experienced the phenomenon of inquiry, criterion sampling is enacted.

Criterion sampling in this study necessitated that all participants be information rich and
meet some predetermined criterion of importance (Patton, 2002, p. 238). The
researcher purports that artistsa predetermined criterion of importance in this study
and only artists were approved for investigation.
Procedures
Recruitment began by posting announcements in New York media connections,
artist mailing lists, various newspapers, Native American craft fair vendor lists and
professional art studios. Participants were invited to contact the researcher by phone if
interested in the project. When contacted, the researcher asked a series of yes/no
questions related to inclusion criteria, and based on answers to those questions, the
researcher decided immediately whether the person qualified for participation. The
researcher then selected participants to be included in the study based on purposeful
sampling criteria appropriateness. Inclusion criteria were inclusive of the following:
Male participants
Female participants
Reside in New York State
18 years of age or older
Self-report as an artist whose work is tangible
Exclusion criteria were people:
who did not reside in New York State
who were 17 years of age or younger
whose art media have been inundated by research
whose ethnicities have been inundated by research
whose art contained egregious, offensive, or disrespectful content

63

Efforts to ensure inclusive participation were met initially as requested in a callfor-artists publication that described the study and explained criteria requirements.
Appropriate were a male and female from the same ethnic background and not more than
three people from a single ethnic background. Dissimilar art media were inclusive and
not limited to painting, photography, music, fabric and/or jewelry design, wood carving,
collage, sculpture, and pottery.
The researcher met with each artist and set up audio/visual equipment (i.e., a
camcorder and audio recorder) that was used to record the interviews. The interviews
consisted of four guiding questions, allowing for open-ended, free-flowing, participant
reporting of the artists experiences with creativity. Interviews were conducted at public
libraries, participants homes, a Native American reservation and a college conference
room. All locations were mutually agreed on by both the researcher and the participant.
Following the interview, the researcher wrote field notes, recording highlights or
impressions of interview content. The notes were helpful for chronological
summarization or as reflective content applied toward thematic development (Creswell,
2007). Field notes were descriptive and portrayed as much information as possible,
allowing recall of interview activities and content. The researcher gave total attention to
interview details, bringing personal insights and interpretations, and beginning analyses
without imposing preconceptions and prejudgments (Patton, 2002). Field notes contained
the researchers thoughts regarding participants reactions, comments, body language,
and other interesting information deemed important by the researcher.

64

The researcher transcribed all interview raw data into a word processor for access
and transferability, and copies were stored on a flash drive and home computer backup
storage. The researcher maintains copies of the recorded interviews (i.e., video and
audio), stored in a secure file cabinet at the researchers home. Transcribed interview data
were sent to participants for approval of accuracy and authenticity. The researcher also
approved content, ensuring it allowed for continuation of research analysis. Had either
researcher or participant concluded that a transcription required additional content,
clarification, or changes, a second interview would have been conducted.
On approval of transcribed documents, the researcher mailed an approval
document for the participant to sign and return to the researcher, who then analyzed and
synthesized the data. The researcher began analysis and synthesis of initial codes
indicative of participant commonalities and outliers of differences (Braun & Clarke,
2006). Thematic analysis was then concluded, presenting codes and themes of common
participant responses and codes, themes, or content that did not appear to fit into existing
codes or themes. Outlier content was identified for possible demonstration of
appropriateness for future research transference. Braun and Clarke (2006) highlight
refining attrition toward development of themes that address the research question.
Results were presented with transparency and authenticity, identifying commonalities and
variances of the experience of creativity.
Instruments
Consistent with procedures in other qualitative investigations, this study used
three instruments for data collection: the researcher as instrument, the qualitative
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interview, and researcher field notes, as Patton (2002) demonstrates. Qualitative generic
thematic analysis served as the methodology to answer the research question, What is
the experience of creativity as experienced by artists?
Researcher as Instrument
The researcher needed to be objective and open to exploration and innovative
understanding of the experience of creativity. The researcher did not adhere to scientific
facts or previously researched information regarding creativity when collecting data.
During the interviews, the researcher was conscious of personal body language, content
concerning follow-up questions, and conversational timing to avoid influencing a
participants dialogue. The researcher remained uninhibited regarding organic
expressions of participants, and accepted each word as it was presented without bias,
preconceptions, or pre-understanding. Finally, the researcher remained sensitive to
content provided by participants, and allowed information to be presented as it was, with
no interruptions or judgments.
Qualitative Interview
Semi-structured, qualitative interviews based on guiding questions were
conducted, allowing the researcher to enable free-flowing conversations and at the same
time manage interview protocols (Madill & Gough, 2008). Four semi-guided questions
were used rather than an unstructured questionnaire, which could have led to ineffective
gathering of information unrelated to the phenomenon under investigation. The guiding
questions were: a) Describe what creativity means to you? How did you come to this
definition of creativity? Do you recall when (i.e., what age) you experienced creativity,
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and can you recall how your creative experience began; b) Describe influences that
enhance your creativity? Describe influences that inhibit your creativity; c) Can you
describe how your feelings, sensations, thoughts, or other possible elements are different
when you are experiencing creativity; and d) Can you describe what is unique to you in
your artist expression of creativity? The interviews allowed participant contributions of
comments as they related to personal thoughts and associations.
Researcher Field Notes
After the interviews, the researcher created descriptive field notes, recording
impressions of the interview. These notes were helpful to the researcher for chronological
summarization and reflective content leading to thematic development (Creswell, 2007;
Patton, 2002). As an observer, the researcher obtained information important to
investigation of the experience of creativity. Participant reactions, physical movements,
utterances, and body language were noted (if any) in the field notes. Similarly, the
researchers feelings, reactions, insights, and interpretations were also included in the
notes. Lofland (1971) argued that qualitative analysis depends on field notes, which are
of paramount importance to findings and inquiry synthesis.
Research Question
The research addressed the following question: What is the experience of
creativity as experienced by artists?
Data Analysis and Synthesis
Qualitative generic thematic analysis was designed to be contiguous with the
positions and assumptions that led to the research question, it is only through these
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elements that a study may be evaluated (Caelli, Ray & Mill, 2003). Foundational
research of creativity was included in the literature review, allowing a basis for
comparison, contrast, and relatedness to interview content. Current thematic analysis
identified not only commonalities, codes, and themes of psychological interests of the
artists perspectives, but also descriptors and meanings that lay beyond themes (Braun &
Clarke, 2006; Caelli, Ray & Mill, 2003). Since there exist no specific steps outlined for
data analysis within qualitative generic thematic analysis, purposeful processes were
extrapolated from other qualitative methods the researcher deemed appropriate (Patton,
1999). Braun and Clarke (2006) offer the following regarding qualitative thematic
analysis procedures:
1. Familiarizing yourself with the data
2. Generate initial codes
3. Searching for themes
4. Reviewing themes
5. Defining and naming themes
6. Producing the report (p. 87)
The researcher began with the first step to become familiarized with the data by
immersing in the interview content. Repeated reading was incorporated to understand the
participants experiences with creativity. The researcher then began to generate initial
codes by extracting interesting segments of the interviews and placing them on a table
that was formatted to the right of the interview transcriptions. The researcher searched the
coded data for commonalities of meaning and developed themes from collated codes. The
researcher created a table containing established themes, and all codes were implemented
within the related theme.

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Ethical Considerations
The paramount ethical consideration in all research is to not cause harm to anyone
or anything during the research process. Leedy and Ormrod (2010) remind, Whenever
human beings or other creatures with the potential to think, feel, and experience physical
or psychological distress are the focus of investigation, we must look closely at the
ethical implications of what we are proposing to do (p. 101). This investigation included
safe, ethical, respectful, and professional procedures of investigation. Each participant
signed a consent form and were free to withdraw from the study at any time. Participants
were encouraged to ask questions and express concerns to the researcher as needed. The
researcher obtained transcription and publication approval from all participants, and
procedures adhered to the American Psychological Associations (APA) (2002) General
Principles and Ethical Standards when working with participants and developing a
research design.
Most importantly, beneficence and non-maleficence, also known as APA
Principle A, was adhered to since the researcher did no harm to others and guarded
against personal, financial, social, organizational, or political factors that might have led
to misuse of influence. The researcher was mindful of her personal mental and physical
health during the research process. Fidelity and responsibility, known as APA Principle
B, was presented since the researcher gained the trust of participants and reciprocated
with trust. The researcher conducted herself with professionalism, respectful, and ethical
behavior.

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Integrity, APA Principle C, was adhered to since the researcher promoted

accuracy and honesty, and did not steal, cheat, or engage in fraud, subterfuge, or
intentional misrepresentation of fact. The integrity of the researcher was apparent to all
participants, fellow academicians, community professionals, family, and friends.
Justice, APA Principle D, was displayed through equal and fair representation to all
participants and others related to the study. Personal bias was removed, and true
advocacy and respect were ensured. Respect for peoples rights and dignity, APA
Principle E, was executed throughout the study since the researcher respected and upheld
the dignity of all participants. The researcher abided by the rights of individuals to
privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination.
All participants were mentioned and credited when required. Highlighting
academic knowledge of the qualitative interview process, the researcher read books and
articles and scholarly, peer reviewed content regarding qualitative methods from:
Aronson (1994), Braun and Clarke (2006), Breakwell et al. (2006), Caelli et al. (2003),
Creswell (2007), Gubrium and Holstein (1997), Houtkoop-Steenstra (1996), Kvale
(1996), Merriam (1998), Patton (2002), Poland (2001), Potter and Hepburn (2005),
Rapley (2001), and Silverman (2001). Additional qualitative resources are referenced
throughout the dissertation.
The researcher displayed dependability, credibility, and transferability of research
content to establish worthiness and rigor of this study (Guba & Lincoln, 1981).
Worthiness and rigor included participant and peer-reviewed approval of content
accuracy. Researcher credibility was confirmed to be professional, ethical, and applicable
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for the purposes of the investigation, and was paramount throughout this study. Data
analysis complied with a philosophical adherence to qualitative inquiry in ways of
naturalistic investigation, inductive analysis, purposeful sampling with criterion
directives and holistic, comprehensive cognition (Patton, 2002). Ethical standards were
reviewed and applied to the research methodology in all processes of investigation.
Credibility and Dependability
Qualitative research has been criticized in scientific defenses, suggesting findings
that are not quantitative are less accurate or fail to meet guidelines of credibility and
dependability (LeCompte & Goetz, 1982). Eisner (1994) argued, We seek a confluence
of evidence that breeds credibility that allows us to feel confident about our observations,
interpretations, and conclusions (p. 110). Angen (2000) suggested two types of support
for qualitative research: ethical and substantive. Ethical validation allows for moral,
political, and ethical treatment of research, and substantive validation by a researcher
ensures that a passionate, integral, and undoubted work is produced. Polkinghorne (1989)
assesses credibility and dependability of qualitative research regarding how successfully
it is grounded and supported by literature reviews. Creswell (2007) offers the following
as directives of qualitative research: researcher understanding of topic, concise
phenomenon under investigation, data analysis protocols, and author authentication
throughout a study. This investigation reflects credibility and dependability as presented
by the researcher within the topic, methodology, process, and participant investigation
(Breakwell et al., 2006, p. 201, Patton, 2002). Credibility and dependability were
consistent throughout the entire investigation.
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Credibility
Credibility means how believable and trustworthy a study was. Credibility and
dependability are intracle, so it is impossible to disassociate them. Credibility depends on
laborious methods of data collection, the credibility of the researcher, and confidence in
the significance of qualitative research. The author is experienced in the psychological
interview process, and has worked face-to-face with clients through employment as an
administrator in human services for over 25 years. The researchers interviewing
experience included, but was not limited to, college students, domestic violence victims,
human service agency employees, female and male correctional facility inmates, patients
and family members of a long-term care facility, clients of three alcohol and drug
agencies in Broome County, New York, and investigations as Corporate Compliance
Officer of a 500-employee, human service agency.
Dependability
Dependability of research is found as researcher provides a competent process of
data collection and analysis. Further, it is important that the reader understand the data
that is obtained toward gaining true insight of the investigation. Breakwell et. al., (2006)
maintain that dependability is achieved through a "clear description of how the data was
collected and analyzed (p. 317). Appropriate dependability increases confidence in the
study process and findings as the methodology is continuously supported by Braun and
Clarke's (2006) Generic Thematic Analysis requirements. Patton (2006) promotes rigor
as imperative for qualitative inquiry to be trustworthy and states, "utility, feasibility,
propriety and accuracy" are primary criteria for qualitative rigor (p. 550). Dependability
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of a study is inclusive of researcher trustworthiness, methodology appropriateness and

competent research rigor.
The researcher has been an adjunct professor at Binghamton University and
SUNYBroome Colleges in Binghamton, NY, Tompkins Community College, Cortland,
NY, and Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, NY for over 10 years. The researcher
is completing a PhD in Psychology from the accredited Harold Able School of
Psychology at Capella University, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prior to her doctoral degree,
the researcher obtained a Masters Degree in Social Policy, a Bachelors Degree in
Human Services, and an Associates Degree in Mental Health. The researcher is certified
in crisis prevention and intervention, certified as an investigator for the New York State
Office of Mental Health, and has been a professional staff trainer for businesses,
organizations, and law enforcement.
The researcher is experienced with ethical considerations for all aspects of human
and animal research, and holds positions of Corporate Compliance Officer of a 500employee, human service agency and adjunct professor. Capella University provided
preparation in advanced research methods the researcher needed to complete data
collection and analysis. The researcher has not participated in the interview process of
qualitative generic thematic analysis, but has read extensively on the subject during the
doctoral psychology program at Capella University. The researcher rehearsed the
qualitative interview process with eleven volunteers before data collection. Credibility
and dependability were established by following American Psychological Association
(2002) protocols of data collection and analysis.
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Expected Findings
The researcher expected to find objective, uninhibited, and inclusive
understanding of the experience of creativity as expressed by artists in New York State.
The findings will offer increased understanding of the experience of creativity obtained
through methodologies developed by Aronson (1994), Braun and Clarke (2006), Caelli et
al. (2003), and Merriam (1998). The researcher expects findings that characterize the
world as expressed by creative artists as transformed, reduced, magnified into the
source, origin, beginning constructs through reduction to find the pure, virginal, and
initial constituents, perceptions, thoughts, feelings, sounds, colors and shapes (Schmitt,
1967, p. 61). Through this process, the researcher addresses the research question and
provides enhancements to psychological understanding of the experience of creativity.
The study presents findings individuals can use for positive life changes, personal
empowerment, authenticity, increased self-worth, joy, satisfying life experiences, and
personal identity. The study provides a basis for future education program development
through college curricula, conferences, and workshops. Future creativity research will be
based on transferability, generalizations, and the fitness of data synthesized through
qualitative generic thematic analysis. Increased understanding of the experience of
creativity will enrich psychological and scientific knowledge.
This study promotes continued passionate interest in future creativity. Qualitative
generic thematic analysis fostered psychological and scientific understanding of the
elusive experience of creativity, and addressed the complex research question, What is
the experience of creativity as experienced by artists?
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CHAPTER 4. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Introduction: The Study and the Researcher
The study of creativity is limited, but the phenomenon is beginning to garner
academic and research interest. This study investigates the experience of creativity as
expressed by artists in New York State, by asking the question, What is the experience
of creativity as experienced by artists? The intricacies of creativity have been explored
through an in-depth literature review. The methodological approach of qualitative generic
thematic analysis was used in this investigation. The researcher acted as sole investigator,
and brought over 30 years of interview and communication experience with various
populations (e.g., aging, domestic violence, inmates, drug and alcohol clients, human
service and nonprofit agency staff, and university students).
As the researcher, I have significant interest and experience in creativity, and am
knowledgeable of research contexts without implications of bias or driving research
implications (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Creswell, 2007; Patton, 2002). I am a creative artist
as a professional musician and have been a Native American jewelry and craft artisan for
over 30 years, but have never conducted formal academic research on creativity. Eleven
practice interviews with artists regarding their experience of creativity were conducted
before conducting the investigation. The practice offered me significant experience with
the qualitative interview process, data collection, analysis, and support for the research
question. As the researcher, I was vigilant and reflected often to remain objective and
negate prejudice throughout the study. Investigation into the experience of creativity
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increased my passion for future creativity research, writing a book, originating creativity
conferences, and developing courses and workshops.
Chapter 4 presents data collection and analysis, as directed by Braun and Clarke
(2006). The chapter consists of five sections: a) introduction; the study and the
researcher, b) description of the research participants, c) methodological process applied
to the data analysis, d) presentation of the data and results of analysis, and, e) conclusion.
Description of the Research Participants
Inquiry consisted of 9 research participants who were artists over the age of 18 and
located in New York State. Each participant was assigned a number to protect
confidentiality. All artists vended their work, which was marketed on professional
websites and displayed in galleries, at juried shows, and craft and art shows. Participants
were male, female, over the age of 18, from various ethnic backgrounds, held diverse
spiritualties, used varied art media, and had personal orientations. Ethnic backgrounds
were inclusive of Caucasian, Native American, Eastern Indian, African American, and
European. Participants reported being spiritual or believing in a higher power, force, or
spirit, with the exception of one. Each participant was an artist who had sold, displayed,
and marketed his/her art. Art media consisted of painting, sculpting, carving, mosaics,
collages, mixed-media arts, graphic arts, drawing, sketching, writing, and music. Per
qualitative procedures, participants experiences guided narratives provided during data
collection. An overview of each participant follows.
Participant 1 is a Caucasian woman with heritage from Europe. She is 58 years
old, teaches art classes, and creates her own personal work. Her art media are painting,
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sculpture, mosaics, and tactile textures. This participant paints movement art from which
the visual of the piece lends to physical body movement. She creates masks representing
emotions and periods. Her clay sculptures are based predominantly on religious women
throughout history. Her mosaic pieces are colorful and extravagant, and a city
commissioned her to create pieces that provide branding to a demographic area. Her art
studio is comprised of all types of classes from the beginner to advanced artist. Her love
of creativity is embodied in her daily involvement in her art. Participant 1 had never
thought about her experience of creativity, and she reported that no one had ever asked
her the questions the researcher did regarding the experience of creativity.
Participant 2 is a Native American male, 58 years of age. He owns an art studio
and sells art online. His formal education resulted in a degree in Fine Arts after much
searching and a confusing mindset from 1960s social changes. He lost his way until he
searched, and Great Spirit rescued him with the gift of creativity. He travelled west from
New York, obtained an education, and came back with a positive and motivated purpose
of creativity. In his art studio are sculpted stone pieces with delicate and exquisite detail.
With a piece of stone, he will pray with it, touch and feel it, until he has a vision of what
it was meant to be. He begin carving, sculpting until the stone becomes the reality of his
vision. In addition to stone, the participant works with wood, bone, and other carving
constructs, fashioning them into what the creator allowed. Spirituality is relevant within
the craft of this artist since he constantly adds that each item has a purpose, and his gift to
create came with a life purpose from the creator. The images he creates concentrates on
animals and elements of nature. Participant 2 attends Pow Wows and other Native craft
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shows to vend and display his work. Art is his sole income and career since he believes
his gift of creativity is his reason and purpose of life.
Participant 3 is a 70 year old retired PhD who taught at a prominent University in
New York State. He emigrated from another country and attended university in NYC
before moving upstate. Retirement offered him the time to dedicate himself to art, the
true joy of his life, in a way that was never before possible. His primary art media are
acrylic and watercolor painting, music, and Japanese rock gardens. He shared valuable
characteristics of creativity in his life after a hurried, stressful, and productive education
position. Creativity allows him introspection, peace, and enjoyment of in the moment
time. His self-awareness was recognized not through occupation and money, but through
painting and playing the piano. Creating rock gardens brings him contentment and joy.
He shows others how to build Japanese rock gardens, sharing his priceless gift of
creativity. His artwork demonstrates deep cognition of physics since each painting has a
story of origin related to the cosmos in some way. His beautiful piano sat in the living
room during the interview, and one could feel the connection between the participant and
his instrument. Music soothes him, and he noted that music is always significant to his
experience of creativity. Money, intelligence, education, and position granted him a
quality existence, but creativity provided him with life satisfaction, joy, and
psychological fulfillment.
Participant 4 is an African American woman, 57 years old, who reported that
creativity allows her to heal from a speech impediment as a child. She uses creativity as
communication that transforms into art. She found social relationships difficult
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throughout childhood due to her inability to form words correctly, and stated that
stuttering was an additional problem. Due to this difficulty, she became increasingly
isolated and depressed. The participant stated that by drawing pictures, others
immediately understand what she was saying. Her creative ability gave her selfempowerment, and confidence, supporting her future in art. She obtained a Masters
Degree in Fine Arts, and then became an art teacher of children. The participant engages
in a technique that highlights her as one of only a few in the United States who is an
expert at it. She teaches various art techniques of painting in classes at a local studio. In
addition to watercolor and acrylics, fabric painting is her specialty. Participant 4 plays the
violin and designs flower arrangements, leaves, and other items found in nature. This
participant found creativity to be a life force, a saving grace, and a monumental
instrument of physical and psychological healing. The ability to communicate became a
literal reality through art. Her paintings reflect thought-provoking images filled with
color and beauty.
Participant 5 is a 59-year-old female, psychiatrist, spouse, and mother to
daughters who have also become artists. Her predominant art medium is collages, but she
also enjoys acrylic painting and jewelry making. The participant has an online business,
displays her work at juried shows, accepts commissions, and has had her collages appear
in numerous magazines. The participant openly discussed her mental health diagnoses of
depression and bipolar disorder, and numerous hospitalizations, suicide attempts, and
sexual assaults. These experiences were expressed therapeutically through her art from
which she proclaims creativity saved her life, allowing healing not brought about through
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psychiatry. The participant incorporates photos from out-of-print magazines into her art,
and creates magnificent female images. She stated that early in her career, she did not use
vibrant colors, but since psychotropic medication and the constant love of her family, her
art has changed regarding her use of color. Displayed on her walls are acrylic paintings
filled with color and spiritual content. The works of her daughters adorn her museum-like
walls. Participant 5 lives within walls of unique and personal artistry that represent past
traumas and current healing.
Participant 6 is a 56-year-old, bi-racial woman whose husband passed away; she
has one adult son. Due to her loss, depression consumed her, which resulted in increased
creativity. Her art media include writing, poetry, acting, clothing designs, painting, and
culinary arts. She found healing, self-growth, and awareness, and thanks her creator for
the gifts of creativity that became her survival. Her young life experience of being biracial in a small town led her to isolation, and through art, she created a world of her
own. She works part time in the medical field, but states that her work as an artist is her
lifes purpose. Her mother was creative, and God must have arranged all of that knowing
she would need it in her future. Her gift of writing is evident in the numerous speaking
engagements she is hired to perform. She is a historic poet, and brings to life the
experiences of many departed souls. She collects fabrics from which she designs clothes
and purses. She loves the art of cooking, and one can find anything from beverages to
desserts stewing in her kitchen. She caters themed parties, complete with foods designed
to match the occasion. Her home is filled with original artwork from friends and her own
creations.
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Participant 7 is a 58-year-old African American woman who is a caregiver for her

92-year-old mother. Caregiving is important since the responsibility changed her
experience of creativity. Before caregiving, her professional career revolved around art.
Her personal life was spent in hours of music, song, and creating art. Taking care of her
elderly parent required her to leave her career and devote 24 hours a day to caregiving.
The stress, requirements, and constant attention to care strained her ability to be inspired
or allocate time to devote to cognition of creative ideas, much less time to make them a
reality. Her mother is now in a nursing home, and time is now available for initiating
ideas, poetry, and music. She designs clothing and sculpts lay. She created a lifelike clay
figure of her sister that was painted and manicured to be a lookalike. Her love of
creativity could be heard in her tone of voice, facial expressions, and expression of joy
that creativity brings to her soul and life experience.
Participant 7 stated that creativity is her life, lover, and soul mate. Her art media
include painting, music, jewelry making, clothes design, and sculpture. She grew up in
the segregated south, and never knew a white person. Moving to the north opened up
thoughts of creativity in clothing, music, design, and written freedom. She and her sister
were the only black children in her school, so importantly, her creativity initiated
socialization and friends. This participant characterized the experience of creativity as an
energy that moved her forward in her life. Although depression continues to invade her
mind, creativity gives her continued hope and provides her with the will to live. Her
home is filled with fabric waiting to be handled and designed, paper waiting for words to
be written, and a heart working to create itself.
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Participant 8 is a 64-year-old Native American male whose art media are painting,
illustration, writing, and graphic arts. His paintings convey early Native American scenes
that he researches for accuracy. He paints and draws animals and landscapes, and
interprets Native American stories on canvas. Participant 8 shares his artistry as his sole
source of income through teaching and selling his paintings. He stated that creativity is
his life. Art identifies him; it is synonymous with who he is, and it is the interwoven
connection between his creativity and spirituality. Art saved his life, and was his saving
grace from early drugs use, alcohol, and crime. He recovered through commitment to
elders and to himself through cultural creativity bestowed on him by his community. He
teaches art classes and displays his work at libraries, art shows, and museums in the
Northeast. He lives humbly; his home is his studio so he works when he is inspired to do
so whether all night long or early in the morning. Participant 8 stated he is single because
he never met someone who could connect with him like his art does; his art is his lover
and family on the journey of life.
Participant 9 is a 60-year-old Caucasian, divorced, mother who moved from New
York City to upstate New York where she came to recover from drugs, alcohol, and a life
of pain. Living an affluent life as a child and having all opportunities available, she felt
neglected and without love. Creativity became a therapeutic force that allowed her to
express her internal thoughts and emotions through painting and drawing. She gives
thanks for the gift of creativity that kept her alive through her mental anguish. Through
assaults, lost love, and continued trauma, the thread of creativity formed a blanket of
sustenance she clings to today. Participant 9 became absorbed in her artwork, and became
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a highly sought after artist and speaker of her process and creative ability. She graduated
with a degree in fine arts where she gained knowledge of her craft, but always believed
that her internal emotions and life experiences were catalysts for her work. She has
traveled the world and displayed her work at fine shows and galleries, and her work has
been published in magazines. After traveling the world, she now lives in an apartment
where her art studio sits in a sacred room. Through her recovery, she worked on
commissioned pieces to pay her expenses, but personal creativity is the reason she is
alive today, and the reason she looks toward tomorrow.
Research Methodology Applied to the Data Analysis
The model of thematic analysis developed by Braun and Clarke (2006) was used
during data collection and analysis to address the research question. Data were gathered
through participant interviews, which were transcribed by the researcher. After reviewing
the data and their commonalities and dissimilarities, highlights emerged, which were
considered initial codes. Common initial codes were then implemented into overarching
themed categories that were reviewed multiple times toward theme development. Each
theme was reviewed for accuracy of collation, and subsequently identified as thematic
analysis of the artists experiences of creativity. The method was both positive and
seamless.
Presentation of the Data and Results of the Analysis
Overview
The transcribed interview data were initially coded from patterns and
commonalities from artist self-reports. Further familiarization with the data revealed
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themes that emerged from initial codes. Through review, analysis, and synthesis, findings
and results were formulated to address the research question.
Initial Codes
Codes were identified from transcriptions of participants individual perspectives
regarding creativity experiences. The researcher identified highlights, cognitions,
emotional responses, and other interesting and meaningful data for future thematization.
The researcher conducted coding manually using a word processor by inserting a coding
column to the right of the transcribed materials. The researcher re-familiarized herself
with all materials within the transcribed interviews, highlighting each paragraph in the
coding column (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Once coding was complete, the researcher
moved onto the next step of qualitative generic thematic analysis during which
comprehensive themes were established by examining and categorizing codes. For
example, comments such as gift from God, creativity is mystical and elusive, gift
from the creator, and from a higher power were collected into a theme that identified
what participants reported collectively.
Further examples of codes were, parents were creative, runs in our family,
culture is creative, grandfather is an artist, children are artists, brother is also
creative, and sister is creative, related to genetic and family connections. Another
collection of codes was found in joy, feels like Im high, I feel free, forget about
time, I feel happy, content, excited, satisfied, I see visions, sensual
experience, and orgasmic, and used during thematization.

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Themes
Themes were established from the codes, with the purpose of defining patterns
across the data set in comparison to focusing on only one participant or topic. Foster and
Parker (1995) explain, The analysis of the material is a deliberate and self-consciously
artful creation by the researcher, and must be constructed to persuade the reader of the
plausibility of an argument (p. 204). An analysis of themes revealed findings that
address the research question, and the researcher interpreted thematic refinement, as
Braun and Clarke (2006) recommend, by repeated familiarization and close reading of
transcripts.
The themes were: a) inspirations related to the experience of creativity, b)
inhibitions related to the experience of creativity, c) nature aspects related to creativity, d)
nurture aspects related to creativity, e) from within the mind, f) sensory experiences of
creativity, g) significance to positive life experience, and h) first time discussing the
experience of creativity. The following justifications for the themes were found through
commonalities and highlights extracted as codes from the transcriptions. Within each of
the 8 themes are lists of subthemes from which the main theme was constructed. The
themes contain various participant perceptions synthesized into an overarching
connotation that addresses the research question (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Merriam, 1998).
Summaries of the themes follows.
Theme 1: Inspirations related to the experience of creativity. This theme
emerged from references to people, places, and things that ignited thee creative spirit.
Inspiration relates to mental and emotional factors that allow ideas, conceptions, and
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original thought. Different from the cognitive process, inspiration appears to have
occurred before the artists creative outputs and experiences. This theme allows for
whatever evokes creativity in an artist, whatever it is that one feels ignites, fuels, arouses,
and compels the artist to progress toward creative actualization. The content of this theme
includes references to spiritual elements of inspiration, not in the religious sense, but
infused with the purpose of ones life, and the compassion stirred within the artists soul
regarding creativity. Inspiration was a type of guidance from outside oneself, leading the
artist to feelings, thoughts, and ideas from which to begin the act of creating, and thus the
experience of creativity. This theme contains perspectives and codes related to inspiration
of creativity as:
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: a gift from God
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: a divine gift
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: a gift from a higher power
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: energy
P 2, 8: creator
P 2, 8: Great Spirit
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: force
Some participants described creativity as a gift from God, two Native American
participants stated creativity was a gift from the creator or Great Spirit, and other
participants felt that their experiences were from a higher power or an energy, force, or
source greater than ourselves. Participant 3 did not mention a spiritual relationship to his
creativity, but stated My creativity evolved as in the evolutionary process, a scientific
process, not a spiritual process. Spirituality, spiritual connection, or higher power than
self was indicated by all participants, with exception of one, who stated, I am not a
spiritual person, but believe in science, evolution, and biology as they relate to the
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creative experience. The inspirational theme was constructed from other elements that
motivated or ignited the flow of creativity such as:
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: time of day
P 1, 2, 6, 7, 8: spring and fall seasons
P 4: summer
P 7, 8, 9: love
P 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: pain
P 6, 7, 9: loss
P 6, 7, 9: grief
P 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: nature
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: beauty
These artist codes represent positive and negative elements that produce
inspiration to create. Although some codes inhibit an artists desire to create (e.g., pain,
loss, and grief), the need to create continues, and was often therapeutic, motivating,
cathartic, and a catalyst to create. The time of day and seasons of the year were noted to
bring out enhanced inspiration in participants. Participants stated that certain times of day
allow inspiration without interruptions since the quietness of morning appealed to
participants 3 and 8. They mentioned that the quiet sunrise and stillness of the day
allowed creative inspiration. One participant stated that his creativity would rise like the
sun after watching a morning sunrise. Some participants stated they preferred to create
in the evening or night when:
Life seemed to relax, children were in bed, spouse was resting, the darkness added
to less stimulation from outside sources, and the evening seemed to allow free
inspiration and creative thought.
Create in the evening when it was quiet which was conducive to my creativity
whereas, noise, activity, and stimulation of others inhibited my focus of creativity.
I sit in my studio, and see the vibrant, lush greens of the spring, I hear the birds
singing, and see life begin, I breathe the fresh air, how could these things not
inspire an artist?
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In the fall, I drive to the Catskills and Adirondacks, and just sit to look at the
colors of the trees; the shades are wondrous, and inspire me with ideas, thoughts
and visions. The fall is most inspiring to me. I give thanks to Great Spirit for the
beauty, and my gift of art.
Participant 2 stated that her creativity came from isolation and the pain of having
a speech impediment as a child. She stated, Pain motivated and inspired me to succeed
to communicate with others. Eventually, she lost her speech impediment, and advocates
creativity as the reason for her recovery. She went to art school, became an art teacher,
and has her own art business. She is one of five people in the United States to perfect a
highly sought art medium called mudcloth.
Each participant quoted nature as a subtopic of inspirations of the experience of
creativity. The participants stated that the following elements of nature were most
inspiring, allowing visions, ideas, emotions, and passion to surface and inspire art:
P 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8: mountains
P 1, 2, 3: streams
P 1, 3: ocean
P 1, 2, 3, 8: moon
P 1, 2, 3, 7, 8: woods
P 1, 2, 3, 7, 8: forests
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, trees
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: plants
P 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, sun
P 1, 2, 3, 8: clouds
P 1, 2, 3, 8: sky
P 1, 2, 6, 8: stone
P 1, 2, 6, 8: rock
P 1, 2, 3, 4, water
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: leaves
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: music
All participants mentioned music since they were initially inspired by music or
listened to music while creating. Some participants shared:
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I always have music on; I choose the music depending on what mood I am in so
that it corresponds to my creating. Music is essential to my work processes, I
cant explain why or how it helps me, maybe calms me? Not sure but just know it
is part of my creative experience.
I always listen to music, in my car, when I am creating or reading or just relaxing.
I have played music since a young child, and find that music is very much related
to my experience of creativity. I need to hear music, I cant live without it.
I listen to music in my studio all the time, when I teach classes, all of my students
want music playing, it seems to soothe, and keep all other distractions from our
minds. I know that music enables my mind to concentrate more fully on my art,
Im not sure how to explain it, and, I just know that I have always created to
music.
In contrast to beauty as inspiration, participants 7 and 8 stated that the pain of
depression inspired me to create and art was therapeutic and healing. These
participants experienced depression, sadness, isolation, pain, grief and loss, and both
participants claimed:
Creativity literally saved my life.
I wouldnt have survived without creativity.
I wouldnt want to live without the blessing and joy of creativity.
The power of creativity relates to a desire to live, as spoken through the voice of
the artists. Participant 6 stated:
Creativity saved my life, and came as an inspiration of healing when I was lying
in bed, and couldnt walk. My world came to a stop, and so did my life. My past
trauma inflamed me; I became totally psychologically depressed as well as in
physical pain. I had given up on life, and was in a hole that I thought I would
never get out of. One day, I took a pad that was close to my bed, I began to draw
and write, and put my emotion on the paper, from there the idea of my art came to
fruition. From that day, I am now a published artist as well as a licensed
psychologist. Creativity saved me; it healed me ,and motivated me towards
recovery. I honestly wonder if I would be alive if it werent for the inspiration, joy
and blessing of creativity.
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All participants felt inspiration as it related to their creative experiences, and

found it to be a great mystery concerning where creativity came from and how inspiration
originates in the mind. Participant 3 alone perceived a non-spiritual relationship with his
creativity, stating evolution and science were sources of his creativity. He felt his
academic nature allowed him to think in evolutionary terms, and that our experience of
creativity as it derives from inspiration evolves through time, persistence, and
progression. Inspirations are vast and independent regarding the experience of creativity.
Participants reported personal expressions that translated to the researchers codes and
themes.
Theme 2: Inhibitors of the creative experience. The second theme concerns
components participants expressed as inhibiting experiences of creativity. Participant 1,
2, 3, 7, 8, and 9 shared how creating art for others in a mandated manner deletes their
own creativity. Creating from ones own origin of thought is different from completing
art orders for another. The following were some of the participants statements:
Commissioned work could be restrictive as the freedom of creativity is absent
when art is ordered, and designated.
Anyone who is an artist can copy, and make the same thing over and over.
Sometimes we have to do that for money but the creativity is not free flowing
after you begin to make the same work in repetition. That can be boring and
mundane. Commissioned work takes the experience of creativity away from the
artist; it becomes work, and not a joyful expression.
These participants shared preferences for novel, original, and personal
expressions of art in comparison to repetitive, commissioned work. They expressed that
the freedom of creativity and personal flow of the creative experience appeared lost,
rendering inhibition to the creative experience when commissioned. Other examples of
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inhibitions of the creative experience were:

P 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: being a wife
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9: having a partner to attend to
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: children
P 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: working
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: family (extended and caregiving)
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: other responsibilities (e.g., housework, house repairs,
cutting wood, education, garden work, cooking, and shopping,)
P 2, 8: lack of funds
P 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: outside stimulus of noise and many people
P 5, 7: high temperatures
Being a wife was synonymous with the responsibilities of a partner and
relationship. Most participants perceived dichotomy between what they felt they should
do in a relationship and what they wanted to do. Although all participants expressed a
desire to spend time with their partners, they also stated that time spent attending to their
partners minimized time they could spend creating. The reality of children inhibited
personal time available for creativity. Some participants stated:
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: I had to spend time with my children
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: My children had many needs
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: I needed to be a parent
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: My children needed me
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: time allotted between children and creating
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: Creativity had to wait until childrens needs were attended
to
All participants spoke of the time involved in daily care of children, and
mentioned that time spent attending to their needs could not be spent creating. This was
not expressed with resentment by any participant, but as practical fact.
Participant 4, now retired, affirms that working as a professor at a large
university and having a family, constrained his experience of creativity due to lack of
time and precedence of others. Other participants agreed that working at a job other than
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art inhibited time to experience creativity, but was a necessary inhibitor. Participant 7
was a caregiver for her elderly mother whose health issues were a daily obligation. She
reported that caregiving is a job itself, and influences your energy to create. She stated,
The stress of caregiving has robbed me of my potential, my freedom of thought, my
passion, and free flow of creativity.
Daily chores and life responsibilities command time away from the artists time to
experience creativity, including:
Household chores
Shopping
Cooking
Home repairs
Appointment
Washing and cleaning
Education
Gardening
All participants stated that inhibitions were an integral part of the experience of
creativity since without the lows, highs might not be as provocative. Although inhibitions
are part of the experience of creative inspirational flow, the artists were not deterred from
continuance of the creative process.
Theme 3: Nature aspects related to creativity. The third theme was nature
aspects related to creativity. This theme materialized as participants related their
experiences of creativity with family members. All participants described relatives who
were creative, highlighting a nature element associated with individual experiences of
creativity. Each participant mentioned the following family members as being creative
and experiencing creativity:

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Mother
Father
Sister
Brother
Grandmother
Grandfather
Cousins
Aunt
Uncle
Children
All participants stated they gained insights from the genetic or nature elements of
their own creativity as family members, and previously, they never related the two.
Until this research, I never realized how creative my parents were, I thought the
skills they had were just normal to parents now I have a new understanding of
creativity.
Now that I think about it, my grandparents were creative, and they must have
passed it to my parents who are creative and, in addition, it was passed to my
children who are also artists. I never thought about creativity in this way before.
Both of my parents were creative, and intelligent, but my mother was an
alcoholic. As a psychiatrist, I never thought about the genetic links to my
creativity but now that you have made me think about it, I realize a generational
experience of creativity from my grandparents down through to my own artist
children.
Each participant had family members who were creative, and all participants
expressed they had never thought about the nature or genetic link to the experience of
creativity until this study.
Theme 4: Nurture aspects related to creativity. Theme four emerged from
environmental experiences. Nurture elements relate to outside sources of influence and
ones creativity, and sources consist of people, places, and things unrelated to close
relative factors. Participants expressed the following nurture elements regarding to their
experiences with creativity:
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P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: education
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: training
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9: mentors
P 2, 8: culture
All participants reported that childhood teachers provided unconditional regard
related to their experiences with creativity. They stated that teachers encouragement
promoted self-confidence and empowerment toward continued artistry. All participants
stated they had taken some formal art training at colleges or universities. Some
participants stated that art workshops and training provided innovative techniques that
allowed them to advance their creative experiences. Mentors were sources of
confirmation and reinforcement for confidence and reassurance of their unique creative
capacity. Some participants stated that although they lacked creative nurturing from
dysfunction parents, they found monumental guidance from mentors. All participants
mentioned the significance of nurture elements to their artistic successes and personal
experiences of creativity by way of encouragement, validation, and support. In support of
nurturing from teachers, one participant offered:
I grew up in India. I remember in kindergarten, my teacher could see my love of
color and flowers, and asked me to make flowers, and put them all around the
room for the children to see. We didnt have flowers there so just the colors of
these beautiful flowers just spoke to me, even as a young child. The teacher would
bring me magazines with beautiful flowers to look at. I believe her support and
encouragement validated my experience of creativity. Now as a retired man, I
have never thought about it before this research, but I believe she was
instrumental in my becoming an artist in later years.
Other participants suggested nurturing was found in their cultures and
communities:
My parents, culture, and community supported my art from when I was a young
child. The Native American culture supports art, and art is part of our way of life.
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From storytelling, to painting, from colorful regalia to intricate beadwork, our

culture and community are synonymous with art, and the experience of creativity.
Creativity was always supported in my home and in my community. My culture is
entwined with art, and teaching art from a young age. Encouragement and
support were always present by our elders and leaders- it is part of our way of life.
The participants described many sources of nurturing elements that validated the
existence of the nurture theme in their experiences with creativity.
Theme 5: From within the mind. Theme five, from within the mind, resulted
from participants continued mentioning of their ideas and visions originating in their
minds, and that the mind was where they pinpointed creativity starting. Literature on
creativity expresses the connection of creativity and the mind as the origin of the
experience of creativity experts (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, 2006; Heilman, 2005; Sawyer,
2011; Sternberg, 2006a). Research suggests that the experience of creativity stems from
the brain, producing cognitions that in turn ignite creativity (Andreasen, 2005). For many
years, creativity remained a mystery, an elusive subject worthy of investigation, as noted
by many prominent creativity psychologists and scientists. Participants expressed
creativity and cognition as:
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: visualizations
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: thoughts
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: perceptions
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: imagery
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: visions
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: ideas
P 1, 3, 5: concepts
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: emotions
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: feelings
Participants stated that their creative experiences began in the brain, and although
they had no idea how the process worked scientifically, they knew that ideas, emotions,
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feelings, and visions originated within their minds:

I had visualizations of paintings while I slept, the images seemed to be burned in
my mind, and I was able to put them on canvas.
I always have visions in my head, I see colors, I see shapes, I see textures, and I
play out the actual sculpting of the stone, and can picture the outcome of my
visions before they are ever made. This all happens in my mind, in my brain.
All participants stated that emotions and feelings were elements within their
experience of creativity:
All of the emotion and feelings that I have are put into my art. The thoughts I
have are all directed to a place within my brain that says create and I put my
thoughts to words through poetry, to design in my fabrics. It starts in my mind,
and comes out my pores.
I sit and think about creating, whether it is my Japanese Rock Garden, a landscape
on a canvas or a song on the piano. I think and reflect of beauty, of peacefulness
and something joyful. I sometimes go to a lake or for a drive to see what moves
me to create. This process starts as a thought, and then emerges to a reality.
Some participants shared the following personal psychopathologies as profoundly
related to their experiences with creativity. Psychopathologies affect the brain, mind, and
thoughts. Some participants explained the connection between their psychological
disorders or psychopathologies and their experiences with creativity:
P 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: trauma
P 5, 6, 7, 9: tragedy
P 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: pain
P 2, 8, 9: addiction
P 6, 7: grief
P 6, 7: loss
Participants stated that psychological diagnoses of depression, mania/anxiety, and
bipolar disorder were symbiotic with their experiences with creativity:

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Depression, sadness, and pain lingered in my brain, and just had to come out in
my art.
I have been depressed and hospitalized in my life; I have been in bed with
thoughts of death and dying, sadness and great pain. Creativity kept me alive; it
allowed me to come out of my dark thoughts into the light.
I have traveled the world as an artist. I know many important people in the world
of art. But when your mind turns away from you, your entire life is lost. I suffered
with depression until I lost my inspirations; my thoughts led me to dark places
with no energy, and no desire to paint. Its all in your mind, appropriate
medication help to clear your mind, and allow the beautiful thought to emerge
with the dark ones. This is when my creativity comes alive, when the sun is able
to shine through the clouds.
When my creativity turns on, I can paint for days, I dont even sleep, the energy is
flowing, my thoughts are directed, and my focus is solid. Mania could be at play
as these times are opposite to when I am in a dark place. But when the energy is
turned on, nothing else is on my mind, I am in the flow, and I am totally engaged
both with my mind and my body- until my work is done.
Participants reported that their thoughts impacted their experiences with
creativity through depression, trauma, pain, emotion, anxiety, and mania, and when they
were happy, well, and joyous. The experience of creativity flows from the mind into
diverse elements of emotion, thought, and behaviors, as all participants expressed.
Emotions are discussed further in the next theme.
Theme 6: Sensory experiences of creativity. The sixth theme exuded personal
experiences of the senses, evoking the experience of creativity: sight, sound, touch, and
taste. The sight of beauty, a dead body, or violent scene arouses emotions. Sound was
noted to affect the experience of creativity such water cascading down a brook in the
forest or through music that evokes a range of emotions from sadness to joy, and from
sorrow to exhilaration. Touch relates to the touch of a medium, and participants
explained sensual qualities of their experiences with creativity in this way:
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I feel the stone, I caress it, it speaks to me, I sense what it wants to be, I can see it
by looking deep into the stone.
I love water, the gentle sound it makes, the movement of it. I go to the water and
smell it, I gaze at it, I think about it and I am moved to paint it.
I can see a piece of fabric, and it will pop in my mind of what I will make with
it. I just look at the fabric and I feel good, I feel happy and creative. I touch the
fabric ,and the touch of it will evoke ideas and thoughts of what it needs to be. I
have a connection to the fabric, and between the visual and the feel of the fabric,
my thoughts become visions. Thereafter, my hands physically begin to create
what my mind has begun, it is exciting, and these feelings are a blessing to my
life.
As they relate to the senses, participants mentioned the following emotions as
aligning with experiences of creativity:
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: joy
P 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: bliss
P 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: orgasmic
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: fulfillment
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: happiness
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: relaxation
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: calmness
P 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: therapeutic
P 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: cathartic
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: satisfying
Participant 1 stated, Creativity is joy, I feel excited, joyous, and content when I
create. Participants 6, 7, and 9 stated they would not want to be alive without creativity
in their lives; there would be no purpose, no joy, or life satisfaction. Participant 8 stated,
Creativity is therapeutic, calming, and at the same time exhilarating, and blissful.
Sensory experiences were expressed as motivations and outcomes of the experience of
creativity. All participants mentioned that sensory experiences were integral components
of the experience of creativity.

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Theme 7: First time discussing their experience of creativity. All participants

stated they had never been asked questions about their experiences with creativity. The
researcher has long wondered about the experience of creativity and how psychology
relates to creativity. The researcher also never interviewed or conducted academic
research on the topic, and so was excited and passionate about the process. In extant
literature, creativity is noted to be a mystery, elusive, and difficult, if not impossible, to
explain. Research, though increasing in momentum, is limited regarding psychology and
the experiences of creativity among artists. Participants found the research to be
interesting and sometimes impossible to explain.
All participants stated they had never talked about their experiences with
creativity with anyone, and had never tried to analyze them. This was interesting to note,
that as professional artists, all adults, who have been creating for a collective 500 years,
had never dissected, analyzed, strategized, processed, or questioned their experiences
with creativity. All participants recognized that they were creative, and had been
throughout their lives, but accepted this fact without question. Most importantly,
participants struggled to answer questions. They did mention the following:
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: just dont know
P 1, 3, 8, 9: have no idea
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: never thought about my experience of creativity
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: no one has ever asked me this
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: cant explain it
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: it is a mystery
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: never gave it a thought
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: it just is, I could not tell you or explain it
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: this research brought about these questions
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: you are the first to ever ask these questions
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P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: before your research, I never heard or thought about the

experience of creativity
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: my creativity just is, I never questioned the what, how
and why.
Participant 1 began the interview stating she just didnt know or couldnt find
the words to explain creativity. Participant 2 shared, I have never thought about my
experience of creativity, I mean, breaking it down or trying to understand it. Participant
3 stated, No one has ever asked me these questions, and I just cant explain creativity, I
have a doctorate degree, and I have thought of my creative experience in this way before,
or try to define it. Participant 8 could not find the words, expressing, Im sorry, I just
cant explain it. Participant 4 shared, It just was, it just is, I just cant explain it, and I
have never had anyone ask me these questions before, it is so elusive and mysterious, not
sure where creativity comes from.
Participants often stared or looked into space with perplexed and mystified
expressions on their faces when thinking about their experience of creativity. Some
participants were silent for long periods, trying to find the words to explain their
experiences, shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders at a loss for words. The
researcher found it paramount to the findings of this inquiry that professional artists had
never before analyzed their experience of creativity in a personal, in-depth manner, and
found creativity nearly impossible to describe. No one had ever interviewed them trying
to capture psychological understanding of their creative experiences. The participants had
never thought about why they were creative, from where their creativity came, or of what
their experience of creativity were comprised. Future investigations on the experience of
creativity will provide further knowledge of this powerful life experience.
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Theme 8: Significant to positive life experience. Csikszentmihalyi &

Csikszentmihalyi (2006) discussed the importance of creativity for life satisfaction and
self-worth. The author relates creativity to self-worth, validation, self-confidence,
personal identity, and purpose of life. Theme eight, significant to positive life experience,
emerged from participants collective statements. A positive life experience exhibits
happiness, contentment, and an authentic self; without these components, life would be
less than positive. Although all people do not experience creativity, nor are artists, this
research investigates artists who experience creativity, what the experience is like, what it
means in their lives, and what is the significance to creativity. All participants suggested
how paramount creativity is in their lives, and some stated their purpose in life was found
in the joy and purpose creativity provided them. Some mentioned that their entire
identities hinged on their expression of creativity; creativity defined them in a way they
could not define themselves. Expressions of creativity included:
I would not want to live without the ability and expression that creativity provided
for me.
I dont know where or who I would be without my creativity, it is like breathing,
and a part of me. It is my lifes joy.
I was in a process of self-destruction and suicide as depression was depleting me
of my experience of creativity. It is the one thing that keeps me going, that makes
me feel, and be alive.
Creativity is my life, it is my reason, and it is my purpose on this planet.
Great Spirit gave me this gift, and this is the purpose of my life.
There would be no reason for me to life without creativity, creativity is
therapeutic, cathartic, a saving grace, and my joy of life. My life would be
meaningless without the creative outlet for healing, communication, and selfexpression.
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All participants mentioned the profound significance of creativity in their lives.

Body language of open movements, enlightened facial expressions, big and effortless
smiles, eyes twinkling, and excited verbal proclamations were evidence of the importance
of the experience in their lives. Participants proclaimed that they had found their purpose
in this world, and creativity was symbiotic and synonymous to their existence. They
shared that they would be a different person without creativity, and could not imagine life
without it. Words expressed when discussing the significance of creativity in their lives
included:
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: monumental
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: paramount
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: purpose
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: joy
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: identity
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: reason to live
P 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: therapy
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9: healing
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: who I am
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: makes me whole
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: my communication to others
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: my spirituality
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: what I was meant to do
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: happiness
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: increased positive life experience
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: my Pleasure
P 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: integral to living
P 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: part of me
All participants expressed joy, comfort, free expression with total emersion, a
plethora of emotions, immense feelings of authentic life satisfaction, and genuine purpose
from their experiences of creativity. When asked what their lives would be like without
them, participants were at a loss for words, uncomfortable, confused, unhappy,
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distressed, restless, and shocked. Participants body language became rigid and appeared
negative in response, the opposite during previous conversations and expressions when
asked about the significance of the experience of creativity within their lives.
Discussion
Chapter Four presents use of qualitative generic thematic analysis, developed by
Braun and Clarke (2006), to answer the research question. The question was answered
directly through data collection and analysis, garnered from participants in-depth and
raw perspectives. Interviews presented personal insights into the experience of creativity
through expression of personal psychological elements that were highlighted and
constructed into themes for further analysis. The chapters analysis presented the
following emergent themes: inspirations related to the experience of creativity,
inhibitions related to the experience of creativity, nature aspects related to creativity,
nurture aspects related to creativity, from within the mind, sensory experiences of
creativity, significant to positive life experience, and first time discussing the experience
of creativity. The Experience of Creativity Research Process (Figure 11) represents the
qualitative thematic analysis research process utilized with this research. The figure
depicts the initial research question and the utilization of research participants in
interviews. Continuing the research process proceeded to initial codes and then to themes
that emerged from initial coding.

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NATURE
ELEMENTS

NURTURE
ELEMENTS

Initial codes
codescodesc

INSPIRATION

Initial codes

INHIBITION
Initial codes

Initial codes

FROM
WITHIN
THE MIND

SENSORY
EXPERIENCE

Initial codes

FIRST
CREATIVITY
DISCUSSION

Initial codes

SIGNIFICANT
TO LIFE
EXPERIENCE

Initial codes

Initial codes
RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

RESEARCH QUESTION:
WHAT IS THE EXPERIENCE OF CREATIVITY?

Figure 11. Experience of creativity research process.

All participants found creativity difficult to explain regarding origination and
process. All also stated they were never asked questions about their experiences with
creativity prior to this study. Relatedly, all participants stated a) they walked away from
the study with new respect for the phenomenon of creativity, b) they now realize the
genetic and environmental influences of their creativity, c) they believe in the healing and
therapeutic nature of creativity, d) self-realization, personal identity, and authenticity
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awareness unfolds through the experience of creativity, e) the connection of spirituality

and creativity was made more self-evident, and f) creativity plays a paramount role in
their life purpose and meaning.
The final chapter concludes the investigation, inclusive of researcher introspection
and evaluation of findings. Data synthesis and analysis are reflected on in relation to
creativity literature. Current findings are presented regarding gained psychological and
scientific knowledge, and the chapter concludes with research transference and
recommendations supporting continuance of research.

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CHAPTER 5. RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction
This chapter presents a summary of results, discussion of results, discussion of
conclusions, discussion of limitations, recommendations for research transferability, and
conclusions. Data collection and analysis captured the artists perspectives of the
experience of creativity through conversational interviews, responding to questions
developed by the researcher. The research question provided a foundation of the
investigation. Chapter Five references future transferability toward continued
psychological and scientific study of the experience of creativity.
Summary of the Results
This study addresses the research question, What is the experience of creativity
as experienced by artists? The purpose of the study was to present research on the
experience of creativity as expressed by adult artists living in New York State. The study
is significant to psychology since there are no peer-reviewed articles related to this topic
in creativity research. The Internal Review Board at Capella University approved the
investigation, allowing the investigation to commence.
Extant literature reviewed in chapter two suggests psychological internal and
external elements relate to the experience of creativity. Nine adult participants were
selected to be interviewed regarding their experience of creativity as artists living in New
York State. Data collected from the interviews was analyzed, and are concluded in
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chapter five. Creativity continues to be of interest to the psychological community, and

researchers might not agree on a comprehensive definition or origination of the
phenomenon. However, consensus resides in the premise that creativity remains a topic
worthy of investigation within the models discussed in chapter two.
The method used during this study was generic qualitative thematic analysis, as
developed by Braun & Clarke (2006) and derived from Merriam (1998). The approach
allowed the greatest freedom of interviewing and information gathering. Advantages of
this method listed by Braun & Clarke (2006) include:
Flexibility, easy and quick method, accessible to researchers, results are
accessible to general public, useful method when working with participants,
summarize large body of data, highlight similarities or differences of data,
generation of unanticipated insights, allows for social and psychological
interpretation of data. (p. 97)
Results from this study were driven by both the research question and researchers
comprehensive, theoretical assumptions of the experience of creativity. This qualitative
investigation included flexible criteria of (a) a worthy topic, (b) rich rigor, (c) sincerity,
(d) credibility, (e) resonance, (f) significant contribution, (g) ethics, and (h) meaningful
coherence (Tracy, 2010, p. 839). The method offered in-depth understanding of the
experience of creativity from the perspective of the artist. The studys findings address
the research question, and results provide personal expressions of unique creativity
experience individual to each participant. Data collection of recorded interviews,
transcriptions, and analyses transitioned to coding, and thematization allowed
psychological understanding of the experience of creativity among artists living in New
York State.
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Discussion of the Results

Results of this investigation correlate with extant creativity research as they relate
to the elusive and challenging process of interpreting, defining, and understanding the
experience of creativity. Findings suggest that all eight themes developed during analysis
address the research question. Eight themes, constructed from initial codes within
participant interviews were identified as: a) inspirations related to the experience of
creativity, b) inhibitors related to the experience of creativity, c) nature aspects of
creativity, d) nurture aspects of creativity, e) from within the mind, f) sensory experiences
related to creativity, g) first time discussing experience of creativity, and h) significant to
positive life experience.
Themes as related to research question, What is the experience of creativity?
Each of the eight themes is discussed individually as it relates to the research
question. Discussions include research participants perceptions of experiences with
creativity. Interview content was reviewed for highlights (i.e., initial codes) and then
analyzed with thematic analysis, with focus on answering the research question.
Theme 1: Inspirations related to the experience of creativity. All nine
participants noted inspirations regarding their experience with creativity in numerous
ways. Participant one found spirituality to be her inspiration, and paints women in
religion as her primary art medium. Participant two found inspirations in nature such as
rock, stone, wood, and water. As a Native American, he found inspiration in the Creator,
Great Spirit, and the Great One. He stated that he was given the gift of creativity, and his
purpose is to share that gift. Other participants stated that nature provided them with
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feelings of comfort, beauty, and peace that sparked inspiration for creativity. Participants
noted inspirations as they relate to spirituality, personal admiration of nature, art, and
music. Inspirations were noted to be experienced by way of the senses and through
intellect. Some participants held great appreciation for a muse, and therefore spiraled that
cognition toward creating something new. Others had an idea or thought that would
appear to them, one that caused emotional connection and therefore created in reference
to the emotion they felt. Inspiration seemed to be a starting place of the experience of
creativity by all participants, even though it was difficult to find the words to explain how
inspiration occurred. Participants knew inspiration was a positive igniter in their
experiences with creativity, whether the ignition came from sad, traumatic, beautiful, or
lovely inspiration, it came to them and therefore they created.
Theme 2: Inhibitors related to the experience of creativity. All nine
participants noted inhibitors related to the experience of creativity in varying ways.
Inhibitors included life gets in the way situations. Some participants stated that family,
partners, spouses, children and work inhibited their experiences with creativity. Lack of
time was also an inhibitor, and the flow of creativity, an integral part of the experience,
was obstructed by responsibilities, requirements, obligations, and social constraints.
Inhibitors do not become inspirations, nor do they transform to a positive
motivator during the creative experience. An inhibitor eradicates, erodes, limits, and
negates the experience of creativity. Inhibitors were also something that takes the
freedom out of the experience of creativity such as commissioned work. Many
participants stated that commissioned work, ordered work, or work that was completed
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routinely for financial gain is not creative but economics. The passion, excitement, and
true experience of flow are lost through this process. Although it was mentioned that all
the artists sell their work, and some live solely on selling their work, when inhibitors are
active, the experience of creativity takes on a different meaning and involvement.
Theme 3: Nature aspects related to creativity. All participants had family
members who were either creative or encouraged creativity. Participants stated family
members such as grandparents, siblings, mothers, fathers, cousins, aunts, and uncles were
creative. Memories were shared of childhood as participants remembered their relatives
creating art, designing clothing, painting, sculpting, engaging in culinary arts, or playing
musical instruments. All participants stated they had not thought of creativity as
genetically related, and had not realized how much creativity existed in their families.
During the interviews, participants discussed family members who were creative, but did
not realize there might have been genes passed, predisposing the creative ability to them.
Participants stated that the concentrated questions of their experience of creativity made
them ruminate for the first time on the inherent components of their own creativity.
Theme 4: Nurture aspects related to creativity. All participants mentioned
nurture aspects related to their experience of creativity by discussing mentors, education,
art training, teachers, and instructors who influenced their creativity. Creative nurturing
allowed participants continued learning, growth, and creative freedom. Nurturing, as
supportive encouragement, teaching, and advising, was provided from parents, teachers,
and instructors who furthered the experience of creativity. Participants also stated that
self-empowerment, confidence, awareness, and identity were paramount to their youth110

to-adult creativity successes.

Native American participants mentioned nurturing through their culture and
community. Participants stated that art is an integral part of their lives from birth to death,
and that art relates to everyday life, and is as important as work, food, and family.
Nurturing came from family, teachers, and others in the Native American community.
Performance arts were expressed as a natural part of Native American life, complete with
music, dancing, colorful jewelry, and clothing. Nurture represents community and
cultural support regarding the experience of creativity. Non-Native American participants
did not relate creativity to a cultural experience, but all participants stated that whether
nurturing was found within the familial component of their lives or from an education
system, nurturing was paramount to a successful creative experience. All participants
found classes and workshops to be supportive; teachers and mentors were often credited
with their focus on artistic longevity.
Theme 5: From within the mind. All participants discussed creativity as coming
from within the mind and then transferring to their physical body for actualization. The
from within the mind theme was addressed by cognition, coming from the brain and
psychological foundation of the creative experience. Participants found it most difficult to
explain where and how creativity occurs within their minds, but knew that their thoughts
originated other responses toward the experience of creativity. Some participants
mentioned visions or dreams within their minds, and they would consider these visions
that would eventually become an entire plan. This theme relates to the psychological
process that other researchers have studied; presenting creativity as a psychological
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phenomenon that is not understood fully. Continued research on the experience of

creativity from all perspectives will advance both psychological and scientific
knowledge. Emotion and passion were integral components to all creative experiences
that originated from the mind.
Theme 6: Sensory experience of creativity. All participants reported sensory
notables. Examples of participant sense experiences included blissful, orgasmic, joyful,
ecstasy, contentment, satisfaction, passionate, empowering, and happy. Feelings of
freedom, being high, and in the flow were expressed as elements of the sensory
experience of creativity. Although participants used varying art media and had varying
life experiences, spiritualties, and ethnicities, all related the experience of creativity to
sensory components. It might be that these sensory feelings allow for anticipated return
of the creative experience as a reward for behavior. Psychologically, the experience of
receiving positive rewards (the satisfaction and euphoria of creating), encourage
participants to continue creating. Positive feelings and emotions encourage self-worth
and joy, lending the sensory experience of creativity to be a substantial theme.
Theme 7: First time discussing their experience of creativity. All participants
stated they had never discussed their experiences of creativity prior to this study. Being in
the profession for a lifetime, the artists had never been asked questions about their
experience of creativity. They never thought about their experiences with creativity
psychologically or scientifically. All participants said that the interview semi guided
questions defied answers, but with difficulty, the participants rendered thought provoking
personal cognitions. Transferability of research would profit from continued questions
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regarding the experience of creativity since this phenomenon has long been considered
mystical, elusive, complex, and interesting. The fact that participants had never been
asked about their experience of creativity, and that they had not considered these
questions from their experiences, lends importance and significance to this studys
purpose.
Theme 8: Significant to positive life experience. All participants stated that
creativity was significant to their positive life experience. Encouragement and positive
support were presented as motivating factors toward self-confidence, empowerment, and
creative adventure. Some participants stated they would not want to live without the
experience of creativity. Other participants offered that they found their personal
identities in their creative experiences. Still others stated that their gift of creativity was
their lifes purpose, the reason for living, and their authentic being was created to create.
Creativity has held magnificent meaning in the lives of artists (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990b,
1996); Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 2006; James, 1890; Jamison, 1993; Jung,
1955, May, 1975). The wonders and complexities of this subject have upheld interest in
research for many years. Future creativity research promises attentiveness to continued
psychological and scientific investigation.
Creativity literature remains elusive, limited, and mystical, as represented in
present findings and as they correlate with extant literature. Guilford (1950) was the first
psychologist to bring creativity to psychological and scientific interest. Csikzentmihalyi
(1990a, 1990b,1990c, 1996, 2000) developed a psychological life enhancement notoriety,
and Richards (2006, 2009) studies the connection of creativity and psychopathology and
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how creativity relates to everyday living. She also studies professions and mental
illnesses of creative people. Runco (2004, 2007a, 2007b), mandates that creativity be
studied as a psychological element within academia, correlating creativity with
intelligence. Sternberg (1999, 2001, 2006c) supports the importance of creativity for
psychological health and well-being. Sternberg (1999) developed the Handbook of
Creativity for scholarly reference. Jamison (1993) argues for intense relationships among
creativity, the artist, and the mind. She studied artists and their journeys with mental
health, trauma, and pain, and the impact these issues had on their creativity. Simonton
(1999, 2009) writes on the connection of genius, creativity, and success, and developed
the Handbook of Positive Psychology in which creativity is a dominant theme. Andreasen
(1987, 2005), a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, presented relationships among the brain,
psychopathology and creativity. Simonton (1994, 1999) researches the lifespans of
creative individuals, providing a historionic report of the experience of creativity as it
relates to psychological elements of nature and nurture. Eysenck (1993, 1995) discusses
the brain, intelligence, and personality as they relate to creativity. Recent publications
were authored by Kaufman and Beghetto (2013), Paletz, Miron-Spektor, and Lin (2014),
Arehart-Treichel (2012), Runco (2014), Runco and Jaeger (2012), Warner (2013), Thys,
Sabbe, and DeHert (2013), and Dikici (2014). Current research continues to be published
in The Creativity Research Journal , The Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the
Arts, and Qualitative Inquiry.
Kaufman and Beghetto (2013) study college students and their perceptions of
creativity, finding that subjects distinguish various forms of creativity (i.e., more creative,
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less creative, and not creative). Another benefit was that once one locates themselves on
a developmental trajectory, they can better enhance their creative abilities within their
own chosen domain (p. 234). Paletz et al. (2014) research culture and creativity, arguing
that economy, business, and creativity expansion depend on an individuals ability to be
creative. The authors state, We suggest that the positive and negative effects of conflict
on creativity can be stifled or enhanced depending on the cultural meanings individuals
hold (p. 12). Noted in the present study, culture is an associated element of the
experience of creativity that must be acknowledged continually.
Silva, Beaty, Nusbaum, Eddington, Levin-Aspenson and Kwapil (2014)
substantiate Richards (2009) proposal that everyday creativity begets continued
creativity, and correlates with positive psychological processes. The authors states, Our
snap shot of everyday creativity provides strong support for Richards perspective on
everyday creativity, which emphasizes the important psychological strengths conceals by
common creative action (p. 5). The authors contend that little research exists on creative
lay people regarding how they perceive the creative process. This study adds
confirmation to understanding the experience of creativity from the lay artists
perspective. Arehart-Treichel (2012) presents Swedish results of 300,000 people
identified with genetic mental illnesses and enhanced artistic creative propensity. All
subjects had higher creativity and greater prevalence of mental illnesses versus a control
sample. Arehart-Treichel cites Keri (2009) of the National Psychiatry Center in Budapest,
Hungary, stating, The gene neuregulin has been linked to both psychosis and creativity
and is worthy of continued investigation (p. 28). Creativity and psychopathology
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continue to be of psychological interest as an element of the experience of creativity

Runco and Jaeger (2012) continue to study the definition of creativity, and argue
that the roots of creativity inquiry began in the 1950s. They contend that contemporary
researchers should continue to support investigations of the creativity phenomenon. The
authors write, Creativity requires both originality and effectiveness (p. 92), and they
suggest that originality and effectiveness appear in all creative experiences, but the form
of originality and effectiveness is subject to the individual, the art medium, and the
unique outcome of experience. The authors support Stein (1953): For persons in one
area (physics, for example) it may mean greater flexibility in the intellectual sphere,
while for otherthe artist, it appears as a greater flexibility in the emotional or affective
sphere (p. 313). The literature review supports Runco and Jaeger (2012) and Stein
(1953) regarding the need for sustained psychological research on the experience of
creativity.
Warner (2013) reports on creativity and the self as they relate to psychological
healing. Warner argues, Access to deeper and more personally authentic investigation
can be achieved in both the consulting room and the art studio (p. 68). The author
studies the connection between creativity and mental health as they relate to culture and
self-healing, and asserts, Self-psychology offers an approach to art and creativity, that
serves to bridge the gap between art as personal struggle and creativity as something
unknowable. It gets out of the way of creativity while facilitating the healing of the
creator (p. 75). Warner suggests that an artist who is less inhibited by problems and
personal issues is more likely to have more energy for creating. This study relates the
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importance of positive psychology and artist personal well-being as support for the
experience of creativity. At the same time, current research notes that psychopathology
might provide inspirational energy for needed self-expression. Were it not for the artistic
expression of creativity, might psychopathology become the destination where one delves
into their own madness with no pathway out?
Thys, Sabbe & De Hert (2013) provide a historic overview of creativity research,
suggesting a need for ongoing study of the creativity phenomenon. They develop a
graphical representation of the artistic and scientific experience of creativity, with
representations similar to Eysencks (1995) psychopathology chart. Both present
psychopathology inclusive of depression, mania, schizophrenia, and bipolar
characteristics as they relate to divergent or convergent cognitions. Thys, Sabbe & De
Hert (2013) present artistic creativity and scientific creativity as related to both thinking
style and psychopathological elements. The authors argue that creativity research is
nascent regarding appropriate and sufficient definitions, and thus demand enhanced
assessment (p. 143).
Limitations
Limitations of this study can be identified in the small sample and concentration
on one geographic location. The study includes only artists who desired to be included in
the study, which might skew results from certain personality types. Although the
researcher was comfortable and professional with each interviewee, Patton (2002)
suggests that researcher bias is possible during interactions between an interviewer and
interviewees, because of the mood of the interviewee at time of the interview, participant
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recall, and participant self-motivating factors of interview content. Limitations of

research must be considered when comparing findings to a population (Creswell, 2007).
The researcher was conscious of the need to be objective and non-biased during
interviews. Limitations can result from researchers who assume creativity is a subject of
superfluity, and inviable for intense psychological and scientific consideration.
Csikszentmihalyi (1996) argues that although some consider research on creativity an
elite distraction from the more pressing problems confronting us and that concern for
creativity is an unnecessary luxury in the face of global problems, the need for creativity
research is paramount since it can help address problems of war, violence, hunger,
homelessness, addiction, and meaninglessness (pp. 10-11). Sternberg (1999) suggests
some researchers allege that creativity belongs only to intelligent and wealthy people who
have expendable time to devote to the experience of creativity.
Participants were inclusive of: age over 18, male and female, multiple ethnicities,
differing spiritualties, and diverse art media. The investigation related to both internal and
external elements of creativity. Although this study contains comprehensive literature,
diverse participants, and varying art media, an important limitation might have been the
small samples. A larger sample, use of same gender, or similar artistic media might
generate findings that enhance significance of the study. Another limitation was the
geographic location under study. By expanding geographic areas, results might have
included variances of discovery of the experience of creativity.

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Recommendations for Research

Recommendations for research are based on current results. Qualitative inquiry
does not produce generalizability, but allows increased psychological and scientific
knowledge. Recommendations relates to current findings of the experience of creativity:
a) conducting research on artists with specific art media, in comparison to numerous
media, would elucidate artists perspectives of the experience of creativity differently. In
addition, personalities might gravitate toward certain art media (Richards, 2009); b)
conducting research on one gender might produce results dissimilar to current findings. A
same-sex study might demonstrate other findings; c) conducting research on participants
who identify with a specific spirituality offers concentrated perspectives of the
experience of creativity. People who identify with religious beliefs or spiritual
persuasions might provide information regarding the experience of creativity that
supports interest within psychology; d) conducting research inclusive of artists from
specific ethnic and cultural backgrounds might offer increased insights concerning
creativity from social and community perspectives. It is unknown what the experience of
creativity is from one culture or ethnic background, and therefore transferability would be
supported; e) conducting expanded geographic research to areas other than New York
State would add to sample sizes and thus produce increased significance to results. Rural
artists expressions might garner additional psychological perspectives for the topic; f)
conducting research using artists who are of a single age or age range might provide
insights ignored in the current study and extant literature. The present study excludes
participants under 18. Future research should investigate this subset of artists for the
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possibility of dissimilar experiences; g) conduct research using participants who identify

with mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder or depression. Extant research suggests it is
common for artists to have mental disorders; h) conduct research with prison inmates
who identify as artists. Due to the positive psychological characteristics of the experience
of creativity, it would be interesting to note what the experience of creativity is like for
someone incarcerated; i) include participants addicted to controlled substances or who are
in recovery and identify as artists and the experience of creativity, though this study
might be difficult to conduct due to the difficulty of finding subjects.
Conclusion
This studys purpose was to provide insights into artists experiences with
creativity. The experience of creativity follows extant psychological models found in the
literature. The importance of this investigation is demonstrated through continued interest
in the phenomenon of creativity, as reported in recent research. The experience of
creativity is powerful, meaningful, self-actualizing, empowering, relaxing, enjoyable,
satisfying, and rewarding. Csikszentmihalyi (1996) argues, Creativity is some sort of
metal activity, an insight that occurs inside the heads of some special people (p. 23). He
contends that creativity is paramount to a life worth living, authenticity, and selfunderstanding. The nine artists in this study suggest the experience makes life worth
living, and claim creativity provides their lives with purpose and meaning. The
experience of creativity was reported by study participants to contain the power to obtain
personal growth and change, positive life experience, authenticity, healing, awareness,
passion, and motivation.
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Many creative artists live solely on their profits from art, and some artists report
that creativity heals and is therapeutic, and the experience saved their lives. Some artists
spend an entire lifetime devoting great passion to creativity, justifying the importance and
significance of the experience of creativity. Guilford (1950) stood before the American
Psychological Association and advocated research on creativity. This is where
psychological interest of the topic for investigation began and where it continued to gain
momentum. Guilford argues that individual personalities distinguish the experience of
creativity and creativity refers to the abilities that are most characteristic of creative
peoplethe psychologists problem is that of the creative personality (p. 44). Callahan
(1997), musician and artist, offers, Something as porous as creativity defies definition,
resists quantification and refuses access to those who seek to possess it, like a thing (p.
218).
Recognized psychologists present the following introspective quotes regarding the
complex subject of creativity. Current research supports these quotes in defining
creativity as a complex, psychological topic that requires continued research. Current
research advocates the creative experience as life changing and powerful for positive
personal change and growth.
Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its
instrument. The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own
ends, but one who allows art to realize its purposes through him. As a human
being he may have moods and a will and personal aims, but as an artist he is
"man" in a higher sense, he is a collective man, one who carries and shapes the
unconscious, psychic life of mankind. To perform this difficult office it is
sometimes necessary for him to sacrifice happiness and everything that makes life
worth living for the ordinary human being. (Jung, 1955, p 147)
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A region deeper, and more vital and practical, than that which the intellect
inhabits. Indestructible by intellectual arguments and criticisms A sphere of
life larger and more powerful than our usual consciousness, with which the latter
is nevertheless continuous. The impressions and impulsions and emotions and
excitements which we thence receive help us to live, they found invincible
assurance of a world beyond the sense, they melt our hearts and communicate
significance and value to everything and make us happy. (James, 1890, pp. 149150)
Although creativity researchers have managed to ask some deep questions, they
have generally not succeeded in answering them. (Sternberg, 1999, p. 458)
Psychologists continue to study the experience of creativity, substantiating a
worthy topic of investigation. Participants supported the psychological models of
creativity discussed in prior chapters. The research question was investigated with
approved qualitative research methods and professional artists. Continuing research into
the phenomenon of creativity is paramount for positive life change, personal growth, selfempowerment, and life satisfaction. Future pursuits for this researcher include academic
course development, publication of journal articles and books on creativity, and
conferences and workshops devoted to the psychological rewards of the experience of
creativity.

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