Anyone can develop creativity. Research on creativity has extended over many decades, establishing distinct personality traits that define creativity. Empirical evidence supports the statement that anyone can enhance their creativity. Csikszentmihalyi, Amabile, Maisel, and Sternberg are notable researchers who have significantly contributed to the study of creativity and the creative personality. This blog highlights their substantial contributions and incorporates a common tool used to describe an individual’s personality called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), initially developed by Carl G. Jung. Knowledge of one’s personality type and preferences can proactively enhance creativity.
The Creative Personality
Csikszentmihalyi’s work on the study of happiness and creativity has received wide recognition. Still, he is most renowned for originating the concept of “flow” and dedicating years to his research and writing on these subjects. Amabile is best known for her extensive thirty-five-year research program on how the work environment can influence creativity and motivation. Her studies have yielded methods for assessing creativity, motivation, and the work environment. She also generated recommendations for maintaining and stimulating innovation. Dr. Amabile’s current research program focuses on the psychology of everyday work life, creativity, and career transitions.
Eric Maisel has worked with creative and performing artists for over twenty-five years, first as a therapist and for the past twelve years as a creativity coach. One of Sternberg’s significant contributions to psychology is the theory of intelligence. According to Sternberg’s theory, intelligence has three aspects: analytical, creative, and practical. Sternberg also contributed to several influential theories related to creativity, such as the parts that wisdom, thinking styles, love, and hate play and how their role affects the creative process. Andreason is a leading neuroscientist who has spent decades studying creativity, including research on where genius comes from. Andreason’s research aimed to explain the relationship between high IQ and mental illness and why they are often associated.
Common traits of the creative personality type that researchers have documented are very interesting to me. From the many traits listed, I have chosen those that more than one researcher highlighted. Below are common traits among the researchers:
- Willingness to tolerate ambiguity
- Resiliency
- Introspective
- Introverted
- Openness to experience
- Willingness to grow
Myers-Briggs Personality Types: INFJ vs INTJ Differences and Similarities
A closer examination of my personality type and preferences gleaned useful information to enhance my creativity by using a common tool that describes an individual’s personality called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This investigation into personality types yielded interesting results.
The theory of psychological types comes from Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung (1875- 1961), who showed that what appears to be random behavior results from differences in the way people choose to use their mental capacities. In 1921, Jung published a book titled Psychological Types, introducing the idea that each person has a psychological type.
Few people could understand the higher-level psychological jargon in Jung’s book, so they could not use the ideas and apply them. So, a couple of women did something about this. During World War II, two American women, Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, used layman’s terms to define and describe Jung’s work. They wanted people to identify their psychological types without having to decipher Jung’s academic theory. In this way, more people could use Jung’s ideas in everyday life.
They created a personality inventory, which came to be known as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®). The ultimate purpose of the MBTI personality inventory is to make Jung’s theory of psychological types understandable and helpful to people’s lives. They incorporated Jung’s theory from the perspective that much random variation in behavior is very orderly and consistent.
The inventory is also based on the idea that behaviors are due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment. The MBTI is a subjective question-and-answer inventory, and mistyping is common.
Avoiding Mistyping
I considered two types that could be my personality type while trying to avoid mistyping. They are INTJ and INFJ. Both INTJs and INFJs are introverted, intuitive types. However, how the two types externalize their introverted intuitive perceptions is vastly different. The primary difference comes down to Thinking vs. Feeling. How the two types manifest their introverted intuitive perceptions differs greatly.
INTJs and INFJs share many of the same traits. People often mistype one over the other. After placing the differences and similarities between the two personality types side by side, I am more inclined to believe that I am an INFJ (nine traits) rather than an INTJ (two traits).
INFJ
According to capt.org, INFJs are a rare personality type (collectively), at one to three percent of the population, as compared to the INTJ estimate of two to four percent. However, INTJ females are a rare type for women, at one to three percent (tied with INTPs), whereas INFJ females come in at around two to four percent.
Many characteristics ascribed to the INFJ Myers-Briggs personality type, such as introversion and intuition, make it difficult for others to understand them. I sometimes need help to understand myself. Many INFJ characteristics are entirely contradictory. Sometimes, it feels as if I am two people, and it can be confusing. INFJ types have intuition as their dominant function, which allows them to grasp abstract theory and apply it creatively.
Contradictory Characteristics of the INFJ that Resonate
Divergent thinking. I recognize that my approach to problem-solving is through the use of divergent thinking. What I mean is that it is my way of solving problems where I can choose from a variety of workable solutions. This is in contrast to convergent thinking, which relies on focusing on a limited number of solutions rather than proposing multiple solutions.
Through the actions of opposing forces, I have outlined the traits of the INFJ personality type by comparing opposites (using a dialectical approach). This exercise has helped me crystalize the Traits of Creativity and incorporate my preferences or tendencies to achieve my goals.
Traits, Creativity, and the Habits of an INFJ
- I love being alone and protecting my alone time, yet at times, I need to be with people.
- My students think I am funny and engaging, and they have described me as an “easygoing” instructor, but I am also a perfectionist. This means that I am in the habit of making a lot of plans and checklists, but then I rebel against the rigid order that I have imposed upon myself.
- I am artistic (recently) but also rational. I have a lot of ideas, but I am my own worst critic and judge, and sometimes, I don’t complete what I started for this reason. Because of the possibility of criticism from others, I have repressed my creative nature for most of my life.
- I am both messy and neat. I am also a packrat, and as soon as I get everything organized, I pick it apart, and I have another mess to straighten up.
- I stand up for others, but I don’t stand up for myself. I have a strong sense of justice, but I fail to stand up for myself quite often. Could this be a lack of self-esteem?
Critical thinking and reflection on my personality traits have helped me distinguish how various traits affect my creativity. With a clear idea of my preferences, I can move forward with my work to achieve optimal creativity.
Some of my favorite activities include sitting on a cliff overlooking Lake Erie, contemplating, and walking in the woods alone with my thoughts. When I want to unwind, I love to disconnect and engage in drawing or writing. I especially enjoy snuggling up with a good book. Although I enjoy being with my family, solitude is a crucial requirement for me to be creative and enter the ‘flow’ state.
Further Reading Sources
Andreasen, N. (N. D.). Dr. Nancy Andreason. Retrieved: http://www.nancyandreasen.com/ Andreasen, N.C. The creative brain: the science of genius. New York, NY: The Penguin Group.
Estimated Frequencies of the Types in the United States Population. (N.D.). Retrieved: www.capt.org/mbti-assessment/estimated-frequencies.htm
Harvard Business School (2017). Faculty and Research: Teresa M. Amabile. Retrieved: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6409
Humanmetrics, (N. D.). Personality test based on Jung and Briggs Myers typology. Retrieved: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
Maisel, E. (2016), Eric Maisel. Retrieved: http://ericmaisel.com/ The personality traits and attributes of the creator, (N.D.).
Weisberg, R. W. (2006). Creativity: understanding innovation in problem-solving, science, invention, and the arts. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.