An Investment Theory of Creativity and Its Development

TLDR

Creativity depends on six interrelated resources—intellectual processes, knowledge, style, personality, motivation, and environment—whose convergence is necessary, and its rarity may stem from limited investment and the difficulty of aligning these resources. The article proposes an investment theory of creativity aimed at cohesively explaining the foundations of creative performance. The theory delineates the six resources, explains how they combine, describes their developmental trajectory, presents a preliminary empirical test, and addresses potential criticisms. A preliminary empirical study briefly tests aspects of the investment theory.

Abstract

This article presents an investment theory of creativity. The theory comprises 6 resources for creativity – intellectual processes, knowledge, intellectual style, personality, motivation, and environmental context. Creative performance results from a confluence of these elements. Main features of each resource are explained and the manner in which the 6 resources combine is discussed. Then a preliminary empirical study that tests aspects of the investment theory is briefly presented. Next, the development of creativity in terms of the 6 resources is described. Finally, potential criticisms of the investment theory are addressed. The goal of the theory is to understand in a cohesive way the foundations of creativity. To the extent that true creativity seems rare, it may be because many people are not willing to invest in it and because so many resources must converge in order to generate it.