The linear and curvilinear relation between personality and subjective well‐being in visual artists: Perceived creation stress as a mediator

Abstract

The aims of this study were to investigate the associations among personality traits, perceived creation stress, and life satisfaction in visual artists, as well as examine the mediating role of perceived creation stress. We recruited 201 visual artists in Beijing's Songzhuang art colony to participate in this study and used the Mini International Personality Item Pool‐Five‐Factor Model measure, the Perceived Creation Stress Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Extraversion and conscientiousness positively predicted life satisfaction, and conscientiousness was negatively associated with creation stress. Positive U‐shaped curvilinear relationships between personality traits and life satisfaction (neuroticism, conscientiousness, extroversion, and agreeableness) characterized the nonlinear relationship model. Meanwhile, perceived creation stress mediated the relationship between conscientiousness (both linear and quadratic) and life satisfaction. Our findings highlighted the dark‐side traits (e.g., neuroticism, introversion, low agreeableness, and conscientiousness) associated with visual artists' subjective well‐being.

Do only the most creative entrepreneurial artists succeed? The linear and nonlinear relationship between creative personality and entrepreneurial performance.

“…Previous studies have shown that the relationships between artists’ personality traits and their happiness may differ from those of nonartists (Cameron et al, 2013; Cox et al, 2016; Croom, 2015). Specifically, a previous study on visual artists revealed curvilinear relationships between personality traits and life satisfaction (Chen et al, 2020). The results of this study provide more evidence supporting the hypothesis that the association between personality and subjective well-being goes beyond a simple linear relationship.…”

The well-being benefits of virtual art galleries: Examining the roles of emotion, immersion, and individual differences

“…For instance, experienced artists perceive more information from paintings and show different eye scan paths than art novices (Koide et al, 2015) while greater expertise is related to greater perceived understanding of artworks (Mullennix & Robinet, 2018). Research examining the flourishing of artists has found that visual artists report experiencing symptoms of depression and high levels of stress (Daily et al, 2021) and that less desirable personality characteristics (e.g., neuroticism, low agreeableness) may be particularly important for visual artist flourishing (Chen et al, 2020). If we consider art expertise as multi-faceted (e.g., knowledge or training in art, interest in art; Specker et al, 2020), however, we may see differing relations with flourishing.…”