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Your Soul Spills Out: The Creative Act Feels Self-Disclosing
Jack A Goncalo1, Joshua H Katz1
1University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
|September 20, 2019
Summary
Being creative reveals the self, leading to perceptions of self-disclosure. Sharing creative ideas enhances interpersonal understanding and confidence in personality judgments.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Creativity Research
Background:
- Previous research primarily focused on the antecedents of creativity.
- Limited understanding exists regarding the psychological and interpersonal outcomes of creative processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the consequences of engaging in creative idea generation.
- To examine how creativity influences self-perception and interpersonal dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Five experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of creativity.
- Methods included inducing creative expectations, measuring self-focus, and analyzing the perception of shared ideas.
- An interactive dyad study assessed interpersonal judgment accuracy after sharing creative ideas.
Main Results:
- Generating creative ideas increases self-focus and is perceived as self-disclosure.
- Sharing creative ideas enhances confidence in partners' personality judgments.
- Creative acts are intrinsically linked to personal experiences and perspectives.
Conclusions:
- The act of being creative has significant psychological and interpersonal consequences.
- Creativity serves as a mechanism for self-revelation and strengthens interpersonal accuracy.
- Future research should explore the broader implications of creativity's outcomes.
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