Abstract
Research in terror management theory suggests that our connections to others function, in part, to provide protection from the anxiety associated with the awareness of inevitable death. The individuating nature of creative expression can potentially undermine these connections, making creativity particularly problematic when one is dealing with mortality concerns. Consistent with this, a number of findings have elucidated emotional consequences associated with creativity when mortality concerns are active. However, to date, research has not focused on how mortality awareness may impact levels of creativity. The present study assessed the hypothesis that mortality concerns will inhibit creative behavior that threatens social connections but will not undermine and may even facilitate creative behavior that bolsters social connections. The results showed that amplified concerns about mortality decreased creativity when the act was self-directed but not when it was community-directed. Theoretical implications and future directions are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amabile, T. M. (1982). Children’s artistic creativity: Detrimental effects of competition in a field setting. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 8, 573–578. doi:10.1177/0146167282083027.
Arndt, J., Cook, A., & Routledge, C. (2004). The blueprint of terror management: Understanding the cognitive architecture of psychological defense against the awareness of death. In J. Greenberg, S. L. Koole, & T. Pyszczynski (Eds.), Handbook of experimental existential psychology (pp. 35–53). New York: Guilford.
Arndt, J., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T., & Schimel, J. (1999). Creativity and terror management: The effects of creative activity on guilt and social projection following mortality salience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 19–32. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.1.19.
Arndt, J., Routledge, C., Greenberg, J., & Sheldon, K. M. (2005). Illuminating the dark side of creative expression: Assimilation needs and the consequences of creative action following mortality salience. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1327–1339. doi:10.1177/0146167205274690.
Becker, E. (1971). The birth and death of meaning (2nd ed.). New York: Free Press.
Becker, E. (1973). The denial of death. New York: Free Press.
Berkowitz, L., & Lepage, A. (1967). Weapons as aggression-eliciting stimuli. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7, 202–207. doi:10.1037/h0025008.
Buss, D. M., & Schmidt, D. P. (1993). Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 100, 204–232. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.100.2.204.
Castano, E., Yzerbyt, V., & Paladino, M. M. (2004). Transcending oneself through social identification. In J. Greenberg, S. L. Koole, & T. Pyszczynski (Eds.), Handbook of experimental existential psychology (pp. 305–321). New York: Guilford.
Castano, E., Yzerbyt, V., Paladino, M., & Sacchi, S. (2002). I belong, therefore, I exist: Ingroup identification, ingroup entitativity, and ingroup bias. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 135–143. doi:10.1177/0146167202282001.
Chi, M. (1997). Creativity: Shifting across ontological categories flexibly. In T. Ward, S. Smith & J. Vaid (Eds.), Creative thought: An investigation of conceptual structures and processes. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Cozzolino, P. J., Staples, A. D., Meyers, L. S., & Samboceti, J. (2004). Greed, death, and values: From terror management to transcendence management theory. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 278–292. doi:10.1177/0146167203260716.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: HarperCollins.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Instrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum Press.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1987). The support of autonomy and the control of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1024–1037. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.53.6.1024.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268. doi:10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01.
Eisenberger, R., & Rhoades, L., VII. (2001). Incremental effects of reward on creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 728–741. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.81.4.728.
Fein, S., & Spencer, S. J. (1997). Prejudice as self-image maintenance: Affirming the self through derogating others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 31–44. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.73.1.31.
Florian, V., Mikulincer, M., & Hirschberger, G. (2002). The anxiety-buffering function of close relationships: Evidence that relationship commitment acts as a terror management mechanism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 527–542. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.4.527.
Friedman, R., & Forster, J. (2000). The effects of promotion and prevention cues on creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 1001–1013. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.81.6.1001.
Greenberg, J., Arndt, J., Simon, L., Pyszczynski, T., & Solomon, S. (2000). Proximal and distal defenses in response to reminders of one's mortality: Evidence of a temporal sequence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 91–99.
Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., & Solomon, S. (1986). The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory. In R. F. Baumeister (Ed.), Public self and private self (pp. 189–212). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., & Solomon, S. (1995). Toward a dual-motive depth psychology of self and human behavior. In M. H. Kernis (Ed.), Efficacy, agency, and self-esteem (pp. 73–99). New York: Plenum.
Greenberg, J., Simon, L., Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., & Chatel, D. (1992). Terror management and tolerance: Does mortality salience always intensify negative reactions to others who threaten one’s worldview? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 212–220. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.63.2.212.
Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., & Pyszczynski, T. (1997). Terror management theory of self-esteem and social behavior: Empirical assessments and conceptual refinements. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 29, pp. 61–139). New York: Academic Press.
Griskevicius, V., Cialdini, R. B., & Kenrick, D. T. (2006). Peacocks, Picasso, and parental investment: The effects of romantic motives on creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 63–76. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.1.63.
Jonas, E., Schimel, J., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (2002). The Scrooge effect: Evidence that mortality salience increases prosocial attitudes and behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1342–1353.
Kasser, T., & Sheldon, K. M. (2000). Of wealth and death: Materialism, mortality salience, and consumption behavior. Psychological Science, 11, 348–351.
McCrae, R. (1987). Creativity, divergent thinking, and openness to experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 1258–1265. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.52.6.1258.
Mikulincer, M., & Florian, V. (2000). Exploring individual differences in reactions to mortality salience: Does attachment style regulate terror management mechanisms? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 260–273. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.2.260.
Mikulincer, M., Florian, V., & Hirschberger, G. (2003). The existential function of close relationships: Introducing death into the science of love. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7, 20–40. doi:10.1207/S15327957PSPR0701_2.
Ohlsson, S. (1992). Information-processing explanations of insight and related phenomena. In M. Keane & K. Gilhooley (Eds.), Advances in the psychology of thinking. London: Harvester––Wheatsheaf.
Pyszczynksi, T., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Arndt, J., & Schimel, J. (2004). Converging toward an integrated theory of self-esteem: Reply to Crocker and Nuer (2004), Ryan and Deci (2004), and Leary (2004). Psychological Bulletin, 130, 483–488. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.483.
Rank, O. (1932/1989). Art and artist: Creative urge and personality development. New York: Knopf.
Rosenblatt, A., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T., & Lyon, D. (1989). Evidence for terror management theory I: The effects of mortality salience on reactions to those who violate or uphold cultural values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 681–690. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.4.681.
Routledge, C., & Arndt, J. (in press). Creative terror management: The effects of creativity on worldview exploration after mortality salience. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Routledge, C., Arndt, J., & Sheldon, K. M. (2004). Task engagement after mortality salience: The effects of creativity, conformity, and connectedness on worldview defense. European Journal of Social Psychology, 34, 477–487. doi:10.1002/ejsp.209.
Sassenberg, K., & Moskowitz, G. B. (2005). Don’t stereotype, think different! Overcoming automatic stereotype activation by mindset priming. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 506–514. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2004.10.002.
Sawyer, R. K. (2006a). Explaining creativity: The science of human innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sawyer, R. K. (2006b). Group creativity: Musical performance and collaboration. Psychology of Music, 34, 148–165. doi:10.1177/0305735606061850.
Schimel, J., Simon, L., Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., Waxmonski, J., et al. (1999). Support for a functional perspective on stereotypes: Evidence that mortality salience enhances stereotypic thinking and preferences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 905–926. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.5.905.
Sedikides, C., & Brewer, M. B. (Eds.). (2001). Individual self, relational self, collective self. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Seligman, M., Martin, E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. The American Psychologist, 55, 5–14. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5.
Sheldon, K. M., & King, L. (2001). Why positive psychology is necessary. The American Psychologist, 56, 216–217. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.216.
Silvia, P. J., Winterstein, B. P., Willse, J. T., Barona, C. M., Cram, J. T., Hess, K. I., et al. (2008). Assessing creativity with divergent thinking tasks: Exploring the reliability and validity of new subjective scoring methods. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2, 68–85. doi:10.1037/1931-3896.2.2.68.
Simon, L., Greenberg, J., Arndt, J., Pyszczynski, T., Clement, R., & Solomon, S. (1997). Perceived consensus, uniqueness, and terror management: Compensatory Responses to threats to inclusion and distinctiveness following mortality salience. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 1055–1065. doi:10.1177/01461672972312003.
Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1992). Affects seperable and inseperable: On the hierarchical arrangement of the negative affects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 489–505. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.62.3.489.
Wisman, A., & Koole, S. (2003). Hiding in the crowd: Can mortality salience promote affiliation with others who oppose one’s worldviews? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 511–552. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.3.511.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Routledge, C., Arndt, J., Vess, M. et al. The life and death of creativity: The effects of mortality salience on self versus social-directed creative expression. Motiv Emot 32, 331–338 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-008-9108-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-008-9108-y