A Sociocultural Theory of Creativity: Bridging the Social, the Material, and the Psychological

Abstract

The present article gives an overview of sociocultural approaches to creativity and advances a particular theory of the creative process grounded in the notions of difference, position, perspective, dialogue, and affordance. If sociocultural psychology challenges old dichotomies between mind and body, individual and society, then creativity is ideally placed to demonstrate their interdependence. While sociocultural thinking in creativity research has traditionally emphasized the social or collaborative nature of creative processes, recovering old scholarship and reviewing it in light of current empirical developments shows how socio-materiality can properly inform psychological theory in this area. The article starts with an outline of sociocultural principles before considering their application to creativity. It then formulates four propositions regarding the creative process: (a) differences of perspective increase creative potential; (b) exchanging positions and perspectives, within and between individuals, fosters creative processes; (c) these exchanges result in perspectives that reveal previously unperceived affordances; and (d) oftentimes, it is the affordances of material objects or of unique idea combinations that guide the development of novel perspectives in creative work. Evidence supporting these key hypotheses of the perspective-affordance theory of creativity (PAT) comes from research conducted in a variety of areas within psychology and in related fields. In the end, the methodological and practical implications of considering creativity as a process of recognizing differences, exchanging positions, developing perspectives and discovering affordances will be discussed, as well as the broader implications of building theories that bring together, rather than keep separate, the social, the material, and the psychological.

Wisdom

“…These findings confirm that no matter one's age, taking the perspective of a distanced observer can inspire greater wise metacognitions, allowing one to explore the possible. This is consistent with similar research, such that perspective taking enhances creativity, and in turn, exploring what is possible (Glăveanu 2020).…”

Microserendipity in the Creative Process

“…Although there have been several calls to recenter the material in our understanding of human behavior and cognition (Barad, 2003;Orlikowski, 2007), it is perhaps particularly surprising that the relationships with the material is under emphasized in creativity research (Tanggaard & Beghetto, 2015) where there is a necessary entanglement with material; to create is to produce something concrete, the ephemerality of a novel thought moves from imagination to creativity when it is enacted and not before. We align ourselves with those researchers who suggest that creative processes are constituted not by internal computations over mental representations of the artist's materials but through and by those materials (see also Bardt, 2019;Gl aveanu, 2020;March, 2019;Wheeler, 2018). This is not to suggest that internal processes are erased but rather that they are manifest through the act of creating and it is this act which is necessarily engaged with material.…”

“…The puzzle facing those who research creativity is how to pinpoint the genesis of a new idea. Traditional cognitivist approaches have implicitly assumed a linear process with an internal locus of idea generation which precedes and directs engagement with materials (Gl aveanu, 2014;Ingold, 2009). This reflects a wider research tendency which loads the responsibility for creativity on the individual person and seeks the answer to great creativity in the mind of a creative genius (Ross & Vall ee-Tourangeau, 2018).…”

Creativity as a Means to Well-Being in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a Cross-Cultural Study

“…Engaging in creative activities in times of crisis (e.g., COVID-19) can help people, particularly those in a less individualistic culture, to cope with difficult events through increased feeling of being socially connected. Glăveanu (2020) pointed out that when investigating creativity in a cultural context, the role and function of communities should be taken into consideration. People of more collectivistic cultures see group membership as a central aspect of their personal identity, value personal traits that reflect collective goals, and derive life satisfaction from successfully carrying out social roles (for a review, see Oyserman et al, 2002 ).…”

“…Because of the existence of sporadic, in extreme cases of “lone geniuses” such as van Gogh, Tesla, and Beethoven, the link between loneliness and creativity has become almost a cliché. However, this “lone genius” myth, though seemingly ubiquitous, has been debunked ( Glăveanu, 2020 ). Actually, it has not been scientifically examined until recently.…”