Conceiving creativity: The nature and consequences of laypeople’s beliefs about the realization of creativity.

Abstract

To examine laypeople’s beliefs about the conception of creativity, we asked people (N = 891) to indicate the extent to which they believed that certain cognitive processes, mind states, and circumstances were conducive to creativity (Studies 1-3). We further examined whether these beliefs are in line with their own experiences (Study 2) and with scientific evidence (General Discussion), and we examined the consequences that these beliefs have for the circumstances and conditions people select if creativity is required (Study 3). Findings showed that people have strong beliefs about the facilitating processes and circumstances for creativity. However, these beliefs are often incomplete and not in line with their own experiences and current empirical evidence. Moreover, lay beliefs inform the choices that people make about how to shape the circumstances to putatively stimulate their creativity. Therefore, a better understanding of the scientific evidence about creativity is crucial to help practitioners select and shape the processes and circumstances that stimulate creativity.

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