Double Negatives: The Dark Triad and Negative Creativity (original) (raw)

THE DARK TRIAD AND NEGATIVE CREATIVITY

Negative creativity is shaping into a legitimate sub-construct of creativity. To meet the goal of studying it in conjunction with the Dark Triad, participants (N = 129, 88 Indians, 88 women, Mage = 25.09 years, SD = 10.03) completed two creativity measures and three personality scales. The Alternate Uses Test (AUT) and a self-report Creativity measure were used to assess the two valences of creativity—positive and negative. The relationship between negative creativity and negative personality traits, namely, the Dark Triad, was investigated to study the criterion validity of the creativity measures. While the Dark Triad predicted endorsement of negative creativity on the Creativity measure, there was no discernable relationship with the generation of negative- creative responses on the AUT. Further, the AUT led to the generation of less than two percent of negative-creative responses. Suggestions for improving the AUT as a tool to measure negative creativity are discussed. Keywords: negative creativity; Dark Triad; malevolent creativity; Alternate Uses Test

The Dark Triad traits and individual differences in self-reported and other-rated creativity

Personality and Individual Differences

The current study (N = 402) explored the relationship between the Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and individual differences in creativity. We measured the Dark Triad traits with the Dirty Dozen and the Short Dark Triad. Participants completed three alternative use tasks that were independently scored by four judges for the number of responses offered (i.e., fluency), the general level of creativity, and the harmfulness of their responses (i.e., using an innocent object for nefarious purposes). We also assessed self-reported creativity with an ad hoc measure of domain-general creative ability. Those high in narcissism reported being more creative than most individuals, but were rated as less creative. Machiavellianism and psychopathy were positively correlated with harm-based creativity; with male-specific correlations in psychopathy. Results are discussed in terms of creativity as an expression of latent biases that characterize the Dark Triad traits.

Self-Reported Creative Ability and the Dark Triad Traits: An Exploratory Study

Attention has recently been drawn to the dark side of creativity. We provided an exploratory study (N 226) of how the Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) correlated with two measures of creativity (i.e., Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale and Creative Achievement Questionnaire). Those high in narcissism reported being more creative than most people, an association that may reflect narcissistic self-delusions of popularity and charm. We found self-reported success in humor was correlated with narcissism and psychopathy scores. Those high in psychopathy also reported better mechanical and lower scholarly skills than most, which may relate to their vocational interest in practical/realistic work. Machiavellianism accounted for little variance in creativity. Individual differences in the Dark Triad traits mediated sex differences in various aspects of creativity, suggesting sex differences in some aspects of creativity may be partially confounded by sex differences in the Dark Triad traits.

The Creative Side of the Dark Triad

MA, Clinical Psychology Thesis, 2013

The aim of this study was to associate the Dark Triad of personality, comprising narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism, and their composite, with negative creativity. The latter refers to that which is original and useful to the individual, which was measured via a constructed instrument assessing the likelihood of engaging in creativity. The strength of association between creativity, positivity and negativity was assessed via an Implicit Association Test. The scales and IAT were administered to 51 young Indian adults, recruited via convenience and snowball sampling. Multiple regression analyses revealed statistically significant associations between narcissism and positive creativity, and Machiavellianism and negative creativity; and the composite DT score predicted engagement in negative creativity. The associative strength between negativity and creativity on the IAT was not significant, though corollaries may be drawn. The limitations and contributions of the current study are outlined, and suggestions for future research are summarized.

A New Tool to Measure Malevolent Creativity: The Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale

Frontiers in psychology, 2016

The present study developed the malevolent creativity behavior scale (MCBS), which contains 13 items and was designed to measure individuals' malevolent creativity through the behavior of daily lives. A total of 958 participants from different regions of China completed the MCBS in an online fashion. Cronbach's α coefficient, using the 908 MCBSs with entirely complete data, indicated that the MCBS had satisfactory reliability. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that the MCBS had 3 dimensions: hurting people, lying, and playing tricks. MCBS scores were positively correlated with individuals' aggression, openness, extraversion, and scores on the Runco Ideational Behavior Scale (RIBS). MCBS scores also predicted individuals' malevolent creativity performances when solving realistic, open-ended problems. The MCBS has a simple response medium and scoring procedure. This, along with the adequate psychometric properties uncover...

Assessing creativity with self-report scales: A review and empirical evaluation

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2012

This article reviews recent developments in the assessment of creativity using self-report scales. We focus on four new and promising scales: the Creative Achievement Questionnaire, the Biographical Inventory of Creative Behaviors, the revised Creative Behavior Inventory, and the Creative Domain Questionnaire. For each scale, we review evidence for reliability, validity, and structure, and we discuss important methodological features for users to consider. We then present new analyses of each scale based on a large, diverse sample. We evaluate each scale's item-level and scale-level psychometric features, using both classical test theory and item response theory, and we examine how the scales converge. All four scales performed well and covaried highly with each other. Based on the latest generation of tools, self-report creativity assessment is probably much better than creativity researchers think it is.

Investigating the Effects of Negative Affect on Creativity

2017

Prominent research of creativity and affect has historically illuminated the relationship between positive affect and creativity, whereas little is known about the effects- influence of negative affect on creativity. The present study aimed to investigate how negative affect influenced creativity by using a divergent and convergent creativity task. A sample of 54 participants was recruited and randomly assigned to a negative or positive affect condition. Before performing the creativity tasks, participants were exposed to a stimulus which were meant to induce either positive or negative affect. Results shows no significant differences between the participants’ performance on either of the tasks. The limitations of the study, it’s contributions and the potential cause for the non-significant results are discussed thoroughly. (Less)

The Construct of Creativity: Structural Model for Self-Reported Creativity Ratings

The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2009

Several thousand subjects completed self-report questionnaires about their own creativity in 56 discrete domains. This sample was then randomly divided into three subsamples that were subject to factor analyses that compared an oblique model (with a set of correlated factors) and a hierarchical model (with a single second-order, or hierarchical, factor subsuming all of the first order factors). After model refinement, both models were then tested on a confirmation sample. The hierarchical model had a better fit with the data than the oblique model, providing support for theories that have proposed a hierarchical structure to creativity, such as the Amusement Park Theoretical Model. The analysis provided evidence of both an over-arching general factor and seven more specific General Thematic

A valence-based approach to creativity

Creativity comprises of acts that are original and useful. However, this definition does not take into account the valences that creative acts can assume. This report presents arguments for the ability of the creative process to be used to meet positive and negative goals, culminating into two strands of creativity—positive and negative. First, basic components of the creativity construct are examined. Thereafter, theoretical and empirical literature on dark, negative, and malevolent creativities is reviewed. The case for expanding the study of valences of creativity has been made by elaborating its potential contribution to the field and by summarizing the scant behavioural studies that have attempted to assess negative and malevolent creativity. Conceptual gaps in creativity, the need for incorporating valences of creativity in current methodologies, and future work in the area are outlined.