Research report
Creativity and affective temperaments in non-clinical professional artists: An empirical psychometric investigation

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Abstract

Objective

Manic-depression/bipolar disorder was linked to creativity, with affective temperaments allegedly favoring creative expression and achievement, but a few studies only empirically tested the link.

Methods

152 undergraduate students attending preparatory courses for creative artistic professions and 152 students in areas expected to lead to a profession mostly requiring the application of the learned rules were invited to fill in the TEMPS-A (Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego — Autoquestionnaire), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ). Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to investigate the links between creativity scores and measures of psychopathology.

Results

Creative participants and controls did not differ in terms of sex (males = 47%), age (24.5 years, SD = 3.8), or socioeconomic status. Creative people scored higher than controls on the CAQ and on the cyclothymic, hyperthymic and irritable subscales of the TEMPS-A, but not on the GHQ. Greater involvement in creative activities rather than being a creative achiever best differentiated those into the “risk for bipolar spectrum” class from the other two classes extracted by the LCA from the TEMPS-A.

Limitations

The use of self-report measures to evaluate both creative involvement and the risk of psychopathology, and the exclusive focus on artistic creativity limit the generalizability of the findings.

Conclusions

This study confirms that the cyclothymic dimension of the bipolar spectrum is linked to creativity, and this link is likely to result from increased involvement into pleasurable activities, including creative ones.

Introduction

Akiskal et al., 1977, Akiskal, 1981, Akiskal, 1983) conceptualizes mood disorders alongside the Kraepelinian notion of a broad manic-depression syndrome extending from subclinical manifestations to bipolar I disorder, and encompassing major and minor depression, cyclothymic disorder and the variant of bipolar disorder with hypomania (bipolar II). The TEMPS-A (Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego — Autoquestionnaire) was developed to more precisely define the temperamental foundation of bipolar spectrum, with five subscales (dysthymic, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable, and anxious) aimed at offering a multidimensional evaluation of the affective temperaments that characterize people within the bipolar spectrum (Akiskal and Akiskal, 2005a). The TEMPS-A is rooted in an evolutionary biologic perspective (Akiskal and Akiskal, 2005b), which has received some support from genetic studies (Gonda et al., 2005, Gonda et al., 2009).

Both past and recent studies purported a link between manic-depression/bipolar disorder and creativity (Murray and Johnson, 2010, Srivastava and Ketter, 2010), with emphasis on the cyclothymic component of the manic-depression/bipolar disorder spectrum (Akiskal and Akiskal, 1988, Andreasen, 1987, Juda, 1949, Kretschmer, 1931, Ludwig, 1992, Richards et al., 1988, Srivastava et al., 2010, Strong et al., 2007).

Positive mood, and happiness in particular, was postulated to fuel creativity (Baas et al., 2008, Davis, 2009). Enhanced positive affect is a feature of both hypomania and mania, which are core symptoms of bipolar disorder and may predispose people within the manic-depression/bipolar disorder spectrum to creativity (Murray and Johnson, 2010). By contrast, Akiskal and Akiskal (1988) postulated that depression might provide fresh insights which can be executed into the artistic oeuvre during the energized phases of cyclothymia.

Whether or not creativity is linked to bipolar disorder has an impact on clinical practice. Lithium was reported to negatively influence verbal learning and memory and negatively impact on creativity (Wingo et al., 2009); however, Schou's (1979) classical study on artists did not support this point of view. No specific evidence is available on other drugs used to treat bipolar disorder. Overall the area is understudied (Andreasen, 2008, Murray and Johnson, 2010). Albeit these cognitive effects were reported to be small, therapists treating patients with bipolar disorder should be aware of the impact of pharmacotherapy on patients involved in artistic, scientific or otherwise creative professions, and be especially careful with young patients who have not defined a profession yet. Indeed, better prophylaxis of the disruptive episodes of manic-depression can have overall beneficial effects on the career of artists (Akiskal and Akiskal, 1988).

Most studies originating evidence on a link between bipolar disorder and creativity were based on small, highly selected samples, or considered retrospective accounts on psychopathology (Akiskal and Akiskal, 1988, Andreasen and Glick, 1988, Jamison, 1989, Jamison, 1993, Nowakowska et al., 2005).

Only one study with reliable epidemiological data found an overrepresentation of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder among those who declared an “artistic” profession; the study was based on the Epidemiological Catchment Area Study, and included 20,861 adult participants (Tremblay et al., 2010). However, people with bipolar disorder often have difficulties in finding and maintaining a job, so greater representation in artistic professions might be the effect of social drift in less structured and demanding occupations rather than the result of a personal talent in creativity. Indeed, people with bipolar disorder as those with a cyclothymic temperament may fit better with less structured activities and environments as those typical of creative professions, in which they do not have to be subordinates or follow strict rules.

Nevertheless, some features of bipolarity might contribute to creative expression and success. Indeed, creativity is something more than merely being able to connect remote associations between known ideas and concepts to produce original or otherwise new constructs or tools. The capacity of bringing new or original creations to social testing, by comparison with scientific or aesthetic standards, and winning against criticism is a crucial factor in creative achievement (Preti and Miotto, 1997).

Anecdotal evidence indicates that creative people tend to emerge as both sociable and popular with their peers; they also appear to welcome social contact and show interest in social activities (Post, 1994). When specifically investigated, increased extraversion was found in a sample of creative people compared to less creative peers or people involved in noncreative professions (Feist, 1998, Gelade, 1997), although negative findings have been reported as well (Feist, 1998). Elevated extraversion has also been observed in patients with bipolar disorder (Akiskal et al., 2006, Murray et al., 2007). Increased sociability is a feature of hypomanic states (WHO, 1992), and can be observed in patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder when they are not overtly disturbed by the depressive or manic phases of their psychopathology. Sociability is a core component in creative achievement, and the ability to promote oneself by networking might be a factor linking creativity and affective disorders (Sass, 2001).

Openness to experience and intuitive thinking are two central features of creativity, and both patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder and people involved in creative professions were reported to score higher in openness (as measured by the Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness Personality Inventory: Costa and McCrae, 1985) and intuitive thinking (as measured by the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator, which is based on Jungian types: Myers and McCaulley, 1985) than comparison groups (Srivastava and Ketter, 2010).

Finally, a strong ambition and drive to success characterize people who excel because of their creative talent (Feist, 1998), and ambition for success and recognition by others are features observed in people diagnosed with bipolar disorder or at risk of it (Johnson et al., 2009, Murray and Johnson, 2010).

A few studies tested the hypothesis that bipolar disorder would promote creativity by recruiting patients with bipolar disorders, and assessing their creative potential and talent with instruments aimed at measuring propensity to be creative. Akiskal and Akiskal (1988) reported that artistic talent, creativity, and eminence in various professional domains were over-represented among the kind of affective disorders versus schizophrenia patients. In one of the two other studies published on this topic to date, the close relatives of patients with bipolar disorders were found more creative than healthy people not at risk of affective disorders on a scale designed to test everyday creativity (Richards et al., 1988); in another study (Santosa et al., 2007), patients with bipolar disorder in euthymic phase scored higher than controls devoid of affective disorders on the Barron–Welsh Art Scale (Barron, 1963) but not on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Torrance, 1990).

Another large study based on an affective disorder sample found increased cyclothymia in artists and architects compared with people involved in noncreative professions (Akiskal et al., 2005a). One study done in a non-clinical sample and involving 128 students found an association between hypomanic personality traits and the scores on three measures of creative potential (Furnham et al., 2008). A link between a measure of creative production and a past or current history of treatment for mood disorder was found in yet another non-clinical sample including 412 undergraduate students (Guastello et al., 2004). One of the problems of research in this area is that comparison groups need to be broad enough to provide perspective on the hypomanic and energized aspects of temperament among the artist types. In a study (Figueira et al., 2010) among medical students, their temperaments were unremarkable, law students and art students were cyclothymic and irritable; engineering students were predominantly hyperthymic, while psychologists and nurses were predominantly depressive or anxious in temperament. This contrast provides some relative specificity for cyclothymia and creativity.

The limited evidence from past studies suggests that creative achievement would relate to milder forms of hypomania, while more severe expressions of symptoms may negatively influence creative accomplishment (Akiskal and Akiskal, 2007, Richards et al., 1988, Simeonova et al., 2005). Therefore, the investigation of the affective temperament in non-clinical populations could offer more specific clues on the links between creativity and bipolar disorder and the mechanisms involved in it.

In this study we tested whether students in creative disciplines were more likely than students in non-creative disciplines to show indicators of affective temperament.

To this aim, we used the TEMPS-A. To date, the original 110-item version has been translated into 25 languages, and validated in many countries with different cultural backgrounds (Akiskal and Akiskal, 2005a).

This study used the Italian brief, 39-item version of the questionnaire, which proved as valid as the longer version, and it is somehow more apt at investigating large samples from the community (Preti et al., 2010).

Distribution of scores on the TEMPS-A subscales was explored with Latent Class Analysis (LCA). LCA posits that a heterogeneous group can be reduced to several homogeneous subgroups by evaluating and then minimizing the associations among responses across multiple variables, and tests for the existence of discrete groups with a similar symptom or item endorsement profile (Lazarsfeld and Henry, 1968, McCutcheon, 1987). On a theoretical basis, we expected that TEMPS-A scores be distributed into three classes: a large basal class with the lowest chance of endorsement of TEMPS-A items (people devoid of affective traits); a depression-prone class, with higher endorsement within the dysthymic and anxious temperaments; and a cyclothymic-prone class, including those people who are likely to endorse most TEMPS-A items within all temperaments. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study applying LCA to the TEMPS-A.

Section snippets

Participants

The study was approved by the ethical board on clinical investigation of the Department of Psychology of the University of Cagliari. A total of 350 participants were invited to fill in a booklet containing some self-report questionnaires aimed at investigating creativity and their psychological correlates, including indicators of psychopathology.

Three hundred and four participants completed the questionnaires: 152 were attending schools preparing for creative artistic professions in the

Results

Creative people and controls did not differ in terms of sex, age, socioeconomic status (as measured by the educational level of their parents) and marital status (Table 1).

The reliability of most questionnaires in the sample was acceptable (Guttman's lambda2 higher than .70 or near it in subscales), with the possible exception of the hyperthymic subscale of the TEMPS-A (Guttman's lambda2 = .58).

On the CAQ, creative participants described themselves as more involved in creative activities than

Discussion

This study found students involved in courses leading to a creative profession scoring higher than an age- and gender-matched control group on the TEMPS-A (a measure of affective temperaments). TEMPS-A more than GHQ-12 (a measure of current psychological distress used to screen clinically active mental disorders) differentiated creative participants from controls. As suggested by past literature, the cyclothymic subscale of the TEMPS-A was specifically related to a biographical measure of

Role of funding source

Research was supported by internal funds only.

Conflict of interest

Authors declare that to the best of their knowledge they have no conflicts of interest to declare concerning the results of this study.

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