Is Self-Knowledge the Key to Becoming More Creative?

Why of course it is. Otherwise why would we ask?

personality types

by Adrienne Branson

Did you know that your personality might hold the key to your creative achievements?

A 2014 study published in The Journal of Creative Behavior looked into whether there were connections between personality, work process, and creativity.

The writers (Guillaume Furst, Paolo Ghisletta, and Todd Lubart) put forward that your personality predicts how you work, which predicts the level of your creative output and achievement.

So, how can you achieve more creatively?

Step One: What’s Your Personality Type?

The first step to boost your creative output (and achievement) is to identify your personality type according to these three ‘super factors’ identified in the study:

Plasticity defines the extrovert personality: marked by a drive to try new things, high levels of energy, and a constant stream of inspiration. Those who fall into this category seek new and exciting experiences. They can be highly creative because of their passion for exploration and risk taking.

Divergence defines the free thinkers and non-conformists. Those who fall into this category are impulsive and independent, hard to get along with at times, and uncaring of how others think of them. Divergence is strongly related to creativity because it creates in the person a drive to be different.

Convergence defines those who work persistently and precisely. They are ambitious, practical, good at evaluating ideas, and have high levels of energy.

So is your personality high on plasticity, divergence or convergence? You might not neatly fall into just one category, but one should be more dominant than the others.

Step Two: What’s Your Creative Work Process?

Step two in improving your creative output and your creative achievements is to identify your creative process, according to these two process types as identified in the study:

Generation, which involves coming up with new ideas (quantity — someone who has lots of ideas); and,

Selection, which involves narrowing down your ideas to their best version (quality — someone who has a few good ideas).

So, are you a generator or a selector?

The study found that those with high levels of plasticity and divergence, with their drive for new experiences, favor the generation process. They are very good at coming up with lots and lots of new ideas, but they might not all be the best ideas….

Read it all at Design School Canva Blog

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