A
COMPARATIVE VIEW OF CREATIVITY THEORIES:
PSYCHOANALYTIC, BEHAVIORISTIC, AND HUMANISTIC
"Creativity is the step child of
psychology" (May, 1975). This statement characterizes the historically
difficult relationship existent between gifted individuals and society and,
between science and creativity research. As Rollo May's statement indicates,
the awkwardness of the relationship is apparent in psychology which studies
creative products and, the individuals which embody the process, without
definitively grasping creativity itself. A similar awkwardness seems to exist
in the life sciences which study live organisms without capturing life itself.
Just so, the creative process can be observed and described but its source
remains obscure. Psychology's numerous philosophical orientations have each
attempted a meaningful relationship with this "step child" with
varying degrees of success. This essay will chronicle some of those attempts in
three branches of psychology respectively: psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and
humanistic psychology. Each of these branches holds a sharply different view on
the nature of man which reflects in each psychology's explanation of
creativity, its source and purpose.
Psychoanalytic
Psychoanalysis proposes that
creativity wells up from unconscious drives. There are differing opinions about
how this occurs, but the various psychoanalytic schools of thought generally
suggest that creativity is a by-product of primary processes. Freud takes a
pathological view of the creative process. This seems characteristic of his
general view of man. Freud felt only unhappy people experienced daydreams and
fantasies; these are an integral part of the creative process. Freud said,
"Unsatisfied wishes are the driving power behind fantasies; every separate
fantasy contains the fulfillment of a wish, and improves and unsatisfactory
reality" (Freud, 1908, cited by Arieti, 1976). To Freud there was great
similarity between neurosis and creativity. He felt both originated in
conflicts stemming from wish fulfillment and biological drives. Creativity is
the sublimation of sexual drives in the psychoanalytic depiction.
According to Freud, the creative
person's curiosity about sexual matters starts at three years of age and has
three outlets later in life:
"...first is repression, which is
quite energetic. The second outcome occurs when sexual investigation is not
totally repressed but is coped with by thought processes or by compulsive
defenses. In the third outcome which is the' most rare and perfect type,'
sexual curiosity is sublimated into that inquisitive attitude which leads to
creativity (Freud, 1908, cited by Arieti, 1976).
Other theorists in the Freudian school
have built further on the premise that creativity is part of the mental
functioning operative in the id; i.e., the individual uses it to seek pleasure
and avoid pain. Ernst Kris (1952, cited by Arieti, 1976) says the use of these
primary processes in creativity is "a regression in service of the
ego." He believes the process occurs in the preconscious, an area not
momentarily in consciousness but easily accessible. L. Bellak (1958, cited by
Taylor, 1988) further explains that all forms of creativity are "permanent
operant variables of personality" through which the ego allows
preconscious and unconscious material to emerge. Lawrence Kubie (1958, cited by
Arieti, 1976) adds that neurotic distortion can occur when the conscious mind
inhibits "the [creative] process by rigid use of symbolic functions."
Kubie says further, [the unconscious can] "hinder with even more rigid
anchorage in unreality."
Two other Freudians address the source
and motive of the creative act. Phyllis Greenacre (1957, cited by Samuels
& Samuels, 1975) says that the future artist learns to disassociate
with real objects and falls in love with the world as a whole. This happens
through a heightened sensory awareness as early as breast feeding. Philip
Weissman (1968, cited by Arieti, 1976) says these capacities may be the infant
learning to "hallucinate the mothers breast independently of oral
needs"; later in life this endowment is preserved and transferred into the
creative act.
The link between primary processes
(specifically sexuality), and creativity is important. Contrary to
psychoanalytic intention, it inadvertently suggests there is an energy
(biological creativity), which can be sublimated into higher psychological
processes when the primary gratification urges of the id are inhibited. This
suggests a discrete phenomenon, creativity, that is equally operative as both a
biological and psychological function. Carl Jung (1953, cited by Arieti, 1976)
extends creative functioning by further dividing artistic creativity into two
categories, psychological art, and visionary art. It is psychological art which
appears to be generated by primary processes. Thus, psychoanalytic theory seems
best able to explain psychological art and creative acts where the incentive is
not the act itself, but rather relief from pain, anxiety, or sexual tension.
Explaining creativity solely as sublimated sexual energy, and libidinal
curiosity is, in my opinion, reductionistic and cannot interpret all its dimension.
Freud himself concluded in his Autobiographic Study:
[Psychoanalysis]...can do nothing
towards elucidating the nature of the artistic gift, nor can it explain the
means by which the artist works; artistic technique (1908, cited by Arieti,
1976).
Behavioristic
Sublimated libidinal drives do not
explain all the dimensions of creativity; however, sexuality in some form
appears in many explanations of creative behavior even if only in metaphor. B.
F. Skinner, a radical behaviorist, does not assign creativity to these
unconscious drives; yet, a quotation he consistently used to assert the falsity
of such assignment refers to this primal sexuality in life. In an essay "A
Lecture on 'Having' a Poem" Skinner (1972, cited by Perkins, 1988) quotes
Samual Butler, "A poet writes a poem as a hen lays an egg, and both of
them feel better afterwards." Thus, "The Behaviorist" indirectly
relates creativity to reproductive drives.
J.B. Watson (1913, cited by Frager,
Fadiman, 1984) and others, developed behavioristic psychology early this
century in response to psychoanalytic subjectivism. The basic premise is
positivistic; it postulates that only what is observable is appropriate for
scientific psychological study. Creativity, thoughts, and emotions are
unobservable internal processes; therefore, behaviorism is unable to explore
the processes themselves. Radical behavioral psychology completely dismisses
the concept of an "indwelling agent" which creates, thinks, or feels
as metaphysic and without proof. Therefore, behaviorism confines its study to
the behaviors associated with these processes.
J.B. Watson believed that the social
environment conditioned the personality and its behavior. He studied the
respondent conditioning associated with various stimuli. Conditioning from the
social environment is then stored in the unconscious memory throughout one's
life. E.L. Thorndike (Reber, 1985) followed and formulated the "Law of
Effect" which says that reward strengthens responses and failure to reward
weakens them. Thorndike, and later B.F. Skinner, continued to study how these
consequences, e.g., reward or lack of reward, influenced behavior over time.
This conditioning is termed operant conditioning. Operant conditioning and
unconscious memories are the primary elements in a behavioral explanation of
creativity.
According to B.F. Skinner, creativity
results from reshuffling psychic material which is unconscious to the
individual and thereby only seems spontaneous (Skinner, 1972c, cited by Frager,
Fadiman, 1984). The creative act, from a behavioral viewpoint, would be a
cognitive behavior pattern which first accessed unconscious material and then
synthesized it in the context of an immediate stimulus (problem). Then operant
conditioning occurs as the tension subsides because the individual had found a
successful solution. The individual may experience additional operant
conditioning if other people praise the creative product. Thus as Skinner's
refers to in "A Lecture on 'Having' a Poem" the artist has learned
the creative response because it has the potential to make him feel better.
This accounts for some creative acts,
but it lacks the magnitude to explain creativity which includes information
impossible for the individual to have previously known. I believe behaviorism
fails to explain works such as Handel's Messiah which is a massive volume of
information created in a twenty-four hour period. It seems unreasonable to
assume that a behavioral process could access and recombine that much
unconscious material so rapidly and with such elegance. Behaviorism also
inadequately explains acts such as Einstein's visions of riding on a light ray
which led to the theory of relativity, or Kekule's vision of the Uroboros which
inspired his chemical model of the benzene ring. Each of these represents man
reaching beyond his current conditioning and knowledge to change his destiny.
Behaviorism is an excellent "lab
animal" but in the "real world" it can not account for all
creative endeavors. Its greatest strength is that experiments are precise and
collect quantifiable data. However, I concur with Silvano Arieti (1972, cited
in Arieti, 1976) description of Skinners work:
People like B.F. Skinner have
characterized man as being molded, conditioned, and programmed by the
environment in rigid, almost inescapable ways. Skinner should be appreciated
for having shown the extent to which man can be affected in this manner; but...we
must stress man's ability to escape his fate. Creativity is one of the major
means by which the human being liberates himself from the fetters not only of
his conditioned responses, but also of his usual choices.
Humanistic
My feeling is that the concept of
creativeness and the concept of the healthy, self-actualizing, fully-human
person seem to be coming closer and closer together, and may perhaps turn out
to be the same thing. (Maslow, 1963)
The above quotation shows the esteem
with which humanistic psychologists view human nature. There are many
individual theories within the field but the human capacity for growth is
central in all of them. Creativity is essential to growth as the individual
learns, and adapts to his environment and to an inner sense of values. As
Maslow's statement indicates, this is part of being a healthy human being.
Viewing human nature as a conscious, self-directed, self-actualizing, healthy
process distinguishes humanistic psychology from psychoanalytic and
behavioristic psychology. These latter psychologies see humankind and
creativity in terms of base instincts and conditioned responses respectively.
They see creativity as a way of compensating for areas otherwise lacking in the
personality (Alfred Adler, 1956, cited by May, 1975, & Frager, Fadiman,
1984). Humanistic psychology brings a wholeness to the human being and the
creativity process. Creativity infuses all of life. Abraham Maslow (1968)
describes creativity in the life of his clients as follows:
I learned from [them]...that a
first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting, and that,
generally, cooking or parenthood or making a home could be creative while
poetry need not be...
A pioneer in humanistic psychology,
Maslow describes creativity in three categories: primary creativity, secondary
creativity, and integrated creativity. The first category describes creativity
which proceeds from the primary processes, as does psychoanalytic theory, but
Maslow includes cognitive and conative processes in addition to the Dionysian
drives of the id. He separates primary processes from "forbidden
impulses" believing the first to be far less dangerous. Maslow
"redeems" base human nature believing that creativity allows us to
escape our fate much like Arieti (1976).
Secondary creativity results from the
use of higher thought processes; it is Apollonian. It takes over the creative
process from primary creativity and adds to it analysis, discipline and hard
work. The often quoted statement "Genus is one percent inspiration and
ninety-nine percent perspiration" seems descriptive of secondary
creativity. Secondary creativity dominates during the verification stage
(Wallas, 1926, cited by Koestler, 64, Harman & Rheingold, 84, &
Dacey,89); it may also be the main process during the preparation stage but in
a less refined form.
Maslow's final category is integrated
creativity. This category fuses primary and secondary creativity: it is the
source of the great works of art, philosophy, and scientific discoveries. This
creative integration is also characteristic of the lives of self-actualized,
healthy human beings. Integrated creativity in the arts appears to inhabit the
same territory Carl Jung described as "visionary art."
As mentioned earlier, Jung (cited by
May,1975) divides artistic creativity into two categories; psychological art
(already discussed); and visionary art which, "derives its existence from
the hinterlands of the man's mind." The second category connects us with
the super-human and timeless worlds beyond our conscious knowing. When an
artist, in any field, approaches this category, he becomes the scout for all of
humanity. He transcends his personal fate, and begins to speak to, and for
humankind. The answer is "channeled" through receptive individuals in
response to the needs of the entire race. As channels of this greater vision,
Marshal McLuhan, described creative people as the "dew line" for
society at large who capture and express the spiritual meaning of the culture
(May,1975). The collective unconscious described by Jung ties the psyches of
humanity together; creativity thus includes an expression of the needs of the
race, not solely the individual. Creativity in this portrayal becomes a
function of the "whole" of humanity: the creative individual, the
creative process, and the creation form a gestalt within the context of this
larger "whole."
Gestalt psychology deals with the
perception of "wholes." It was founded as a separate school of
thought in Germany early this century. I am giving it a brief discussion here
because of its more recent association with humanistic psychology. Max
Wertheimer (1945, cited by Arieti, 1976) looks at all creativity from this
Gestalt perspective. He says that the process moves from one unstable or
unsatisfactory situation (S1) to one of greater stability and thereby forms a
new gestalt (S2) which includes the resolution of tension. Wertheimer believed
that dividing the wholes into parts without losing track of the original
totality was an important aspect of creative thinking. Wertheimer also says
that in the creative act the individual perceives some features of the final S2
from the beginning of the process; these features are the means through which
the individual recaptures the final situation. Unfortunately, Wertheimer's
theory does not explain how restructuring of S1 into S2 actually occurs. The
importance of his theory is the emphasis on the process as a whole rather than
as a linear sequence. To Wertheimer the creativity process was "one
consistent line of thinking...[which sought] the nature of their [the elements]
intrinsic interdependence."
Wertheimer, and the other models
reviewed thus far, fail to grip the source of the process. They generally
report the components of the process after it occurs, the nature of the
product, or the characteristics of the creative individual. From where does the
new solution come? How is something brought into being where nothing previously
existed? We are distinctly uncomfortable with any explanation which suggests
that something "just happens," yet all these inquiries leave us with
these questions and no clear cut answer. When we attempt to explain creativity
itself we experience one of its most telling attributes, ineffable encounter.
The ability to encounter life in its
fullest and engage with that part of it which is just beyond our senses is a
prime characteristic of the creative act, and individual, according to Rollo
May (1975). May suggests:
For the consciousness which obtains in
creativity is not the superficial level of objectified intellectualization, but
and encounter with the world on a level that undercuts the subject-object
split. "Creativity,...is the encounter of the intensively conscious human
being with his or her world."
The above quotation describes an
encounter of such intensity that the polarity of the world around is
overlooked. This parallels Maslow (1963) who says that during the creative
encounter the individual is self-forgetful. Thus, becoming completely "lost
in the present," the individual merges with the encountered and the
subject-object split disappears. May metaphorically posits that the creative
individual "knows" the subject in the "Biblical sense";
i.e., presenting the similarity between the creative act and sexual encounter.
Sexuality, and the union of opposites appear in many of the creativity theories
thus far discussed. However, May's correlation of creativity and sexuality is
notably different from psychoanalytic theory. Freud saw creativity as sublimation
of sexual, and other primitive, drives. May uses the reference to sexuality as
a healthy, engaging process. Creativity, like sexuality, is part of a full
encounter with life: it is the "dance" that unites the opposites.
Uniting pairs of opposites is a
theoretical premise of Arthur Koestler (1964) creativity theory. An author,
Koestler represents no particular psychological school of thought but has done
much research on the field of creativity. Koestler's premise on the creative
process is "bisociation." Bisociation, a term Koestler has coined,
means to join unrelated, often conflictual, information in a new way. Koestler
says it is being "double minded" or able to think on more than one
plane of thought simultaneously. Frank Barron (1988) also says the ability to
tolerate chaos or seemingly opposite information is characteristic of creative
individuals. In each of these theories, as May describes, resolution comes
through intense encounter when as Maslow asserts, the individual is,
"completely lost in the present."
Intense encounter, "lost in the
present," suggests another phenomenon which accompanies the creative
process, an altered state of consciousness. Transpersonal psychology focuses on
the higher aspirations of human growth and expanded states of consciousness.
Stanislav Grof (1988), a transpersonal theorist and psychiatrist, listed four
categories of creativity which he feels come from transpersonal sources in his
work with altered states of consciousness.
The first category relates to problems
which an individual has struggled with for years without finding a solution.
This category contains Wallas's four stages, and is brought to resolution by
the sudden streaming of illumination during a "non-ordinary" state.
His example is also Kekule's discovery of the benzene ring in a dream mentioned
earlier in this paper.
A second category, involves
transmission of great ideas or systems of thought which go beyond the state of
the art in the field to which they relate. An examples of this is the concept
of distribution of information about the universe found in the ancient Jainist
theory of the jivas which resembles emerging holonomic theories of physics.
Other examples are ancient cosmogenetic systems which say light is the creative
principle of the universe, a theory now being explored by research into the
photon's role in subatomic particles.
The third category contains creative
encounters which give a nearly complete product ready for implementation by
society. The mythological story of Prometheus bringing fire to earth is an
ancient example. Modern examples are; the work of Nikola Tesla who saw his
inventions as finished working prototypes; Einstein riding on a light beam in
his imagination and thereby understanding the theory of relativity (previously
mentioned); and Mozart who heard his compositions final form, all at ounce,
inside his head.
Grof postulates one final creative
experience somewhat different than those just cited; it is an encounter with
the Creator. This experience can be transforming for both the individual and
society. Examples are Moses receiving the Ten Commandments or Mohammed's vision
which founded Islam. In these examples, creativity evolved spirituality in
mankind.
The many theories of creativity cover
a range of human experience from the most primitive subconscious drives to
contact with the divine. When viewed independently, each theory is consistent
relative to a specific field of human experience yet, many of these theories
clash dramatically when contrasted with one another. Vaune Ainsworth-Land
(1982) has examined the imaging and creative process and described four
"orders" of the process and its product. Ainsworth-Land's theory is
basically humanist. I will use these "orders" to relate the
creativity theories discussed in this essay and thereby partially delimit the
type, or types, of creative acts which each theory best describes.
First order creativity operates out of
necessity. This area of creativity occurs in the learning process of a child.
This order may also engage when there is an immediate urgent need such as a
threat to survival. This area seems to correlate to psychoanalytic creativity
theories and development such as that described by object relations (Mahler,
Pine, and Bergman, 1975). It likewise relates to respondent conditioning in
that it occurs spontaneously in response to immediate needs. Maslow's primary
creativity is in this category. In this order there is no awareness of self, or
ego, just spontaneous acts driven by primal needs.
Second order creativity involves
analytic processes. The individual is self-aware and consciously involved in
the project at hand. The process focuses on improvement, extension and
evaluation. Maslow's secondary creativity fits this category This area also
relates to higher ego functions described by psychoanalysis. It correlates with
creative acts which behaviorism calls operant response; i.e., the individual is
aware of their response and rewarded for it.
Third order creativity becomes more
abstract. It deals with synthesizing and innovation. The product created is as
much "new as old"(Ainsworth-Land, 1982). In this order the individual
opens up to the process and gives up control and begins self-integration. This
seems to be the beginning of Maslow's integrated creativity and the realm of
Koestler's "bisociation."
The fourth order is, as Ainsworth-Land
describes it, "the ultimate form of relatedness." This is the order
in which Grof's fourth encounters occur. The self has merged with a larger
reality and attained a transformed consciousness. In this order the individual
attains "cosmic consciousness" (Bucke, 1906, cited by Ainsworth-Land,
1982) and beholds order in chaos without conflict.
Table #1 shows the various theorists
in relation to Ainsworth-Land's four orders. I have listed the theorists in the
general psychological school of thought to which they subscribe on the (x) axis
and, in the "order" to which their theories best apply on the (y)
axis. They will appear within their respective vertical columns in all
"order" corresponding sections to which their theoretical work most
applies as outlined in this essay. Jung's theories will be the exception
appearing as both a psychoanalytic and humanistic theory.
Table
#1
|
AinsworthLand orders: |
Psychoanalytic: |
Behavioristic: |
Humanistic: |
|
1st. order: |
Freud- id |
Watson- |
Maslow Prim.
Creat. |
|
2nd. order: |
Freud- ego |
Throndike, Skinner-Operant Cond. |
Maslow Sec. Creat. May- Encounter Wertheimer- Gestalt Grof-1st. Cat. |
|
3rd. order: |
Greenacer |
|
Maslow Integ.
Creat. May- Encounter Wertheimer- Gestalt Koestler- Bisociation Grof- 2nd.
&3rd. Cat. |
|
4th. order: |
|
|
Jung's Visionary
Art Grof- 3rd. & 4th Cat. |
In summary, it is clear that the
various branches of psychology have different views of human experience which
influence their theories of creativity. It is also evident there are common
threads in many of the theories. All these psychologies see creativity as an
encounter with, and merging of divergent information but disagree about the
source of that information and the procedure through which it is processed.
Most creativity theories, with the exception of the behavioristic ones, see
creativity as a process through which the individual finds relationship with
the environment. For psychoanalysis this is a neurotic function; for humanistic
psychology it is a sign of health. With this wide divergence the only seemingly
obvious conclusion is that the substance and source of creativity still elude
discovery. We are able to see creativity's effects, feel its inspiration, and
use it in a myriad of ways. As if standing in a hall of mirrors, we reflect
creativity back upon itself and speculate upon its nature never knowing which
image is real and which the reflection. Everywhere creativity reflects itself
without revealing its true nature. Each reflection is different in its own
environment yet isomorphic of the others. We "create" metaphors that
describe, and theories to explain the acts by which metaphors and theories are
themselves brought into being. Fully engaged we seek the mercurial Rosetta
stone that reveals the common language of these many forms. Creativity may be
the step-child of psychology but we are enamored by it and, as we attempt to
forge a relationship with it we remain "lost in the present" and lost
in the presence of a seemingly omniparous force.
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Article
Summaries
The
Coyoté Oak: Burgeoning Wisdom
Transcendental
Creative Systems:
A
Comparative View of Creativity Theories:
Psychoanalytic, Behaviorist, & Humanistic
Three streams of thought in
contemporary psychology view our humanness is distinctly different ways.
This is nowhere more evident than in their efforts to explain creativity.
This essay explores and compares these divergent views and provides a
foundation from which to develop a new transpersonal theory of creativity.
Dancing
With The Whole:
A Theory of Creative Entrainment
Doorways
In Consciousness:
An Exploration of Resonant Being
Building
A Better Thought Trap:
Nutrition for Colossal Creativity & Peak Performance
Accessing
Your Inner Creator
Creativity,
Healing, & Shamanism
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