Subclinical inclination toward manic-depression and creative performance on the Remote Associates Test

An experiment examined manic-depressive inclination in college students as an influence on creativity. The Bipolar: Manic Disorder scale of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory determined manic-depressive inclination or its absence. The Remote Associates Test was the basis for assessing creativity. The experiment was a 2×2 factorial design with manic-depressive inclination (presence or absence) as the first factor, and a mood-enhancing experience as the second. The mood-enhancing experience required that students write an essay about an activity they once had performed superbly well. Students assigned to the control condition wrote an essay about how they organized and sequenced activities in an ordinary day. As hypothesized, students with high Bipolar scores who wrote about a peak performance obtained especially high Remote Associates Test scores in comparison with students in other conditions of the experiment (p<0.02). High Bipolar scores did not result in high Remote Associates Test scores in the control condition, suggesting that mood enhancement is a necessary prerequisite for manic-depressive inclination to potentiate creative performance.     

Mood Swings and Creativity

ABSTRACT:

This article evaluates recent evidence for an association between creativity and bipolar mood disorders. Eminent creativity and everyday creativity are distinguished, with high rates of major mood disorders‐particularly bipolar disorders— appearing among eminent creators in the arts. However, among everyday persons, including the 4–5% of the population that may develop a bipolar “spectrum”; disorder and their relatives, it is those with relatively milder mood disorders and normalcy who may show the greatest creative advantage. These seemingly conflicting results are reconciled through comparison of research designs and the creativity and diagnostic variables studied. Evidence regarding mood states that enhance creativity is also considered, both for eminent and everyday creators, and some preliminary results from a study of patients are presented. Here, milder mood elevations were tied most closely to the experience of creativity, although other patterns can exist. Three patterns are examined in terms of 23 mood, cognitive, and behavioral features that Jamison (1989) studied in eminent creators.     

Creativity,Mood Disorders,and Emotional Intelligence

The study addressed two findings in the creativity literature that show, on the one hand, that bipolar disorder and other clinical dysfunctions are overrepresented among eminently creative people, and that positive affect is positively associated with creativity. The central hypothesis of the study was that emotional intelligence could be an intervening variable between clinical conditions and creative production. A sample of 412 undergraduates completed a wide range of divergent thinking and creative production measures, and the Emotional Intelligence Scale; 11 percent of the sample reported that they had completed treatment for mood disorder and 5 percent report that they were currently in treatment. A combination of regression and ANOVA analyses revealed: The link between mood disorders and creative production persisted after emotional intelligence was statistically removed; the same was true for ideational fluency and flexibility of cognitive style. The link between emotional intelligence and creative production persisted after the effect of clinical disorders was removed. Ideational fluency and emotional intelligence were higher among people who completed treatment compared to people in treatment. The tentative interpretation is that emotional intelligence serves as a counterweight against mood disorders in enhancing creative production.     

Attentional bias in euthymic bipolar I disorder

Little is known about the nature of the relation between information-processing biases and affective traits in bipolar disorder. The present study was designed to investigate whether attentional biases are evident in persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder when they are in a positive mood state, and whether biases are related to indices of emotion regulation and to prior history of mood episodes. Ninety adults diagnosed with bipolar I disorder and 81 controls with no lifetime mood disorder underwent a positive mood induction and then completed an emotion face dot-probe task; participants in the bipolar disorder group also completed a self-report measure of responses to positive affect. Attentional bias was not related to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder or to symptom severity. Consistent with hypotheses, analyses within the bipolar group indicated that greater dampening of positive affect related to significantly less attention paid to the positively valenced faces. Discussion focuses on the potential role of affective traits in shaping attentional bias in bipolar disorder.     

Induced mood change and dysfunctional attitudes in remitted bipolar I affective disorder

This study investigated the possibility that, in remitted bipolar I affective disorder, dysfunctional attitudes are mood-state dependent. Participants were 120 individuals with remitted bipolar I disorder, remitted unipolar depression, or no history of affective disorder. The Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS; Weissman, 1979) was completed before and after positive or negative mood challenge. Following mood increase, the bipolar group changed significantly less in DAS total score than did the other 2 groups, and in goal-striving and achievement attitudes relative to the unipolar group. These findings did not provide clear support for the mood-state dependency theory in bipolar disorder, arguing instead for the presence in bipolar I disorder of dysfunctional cognitions that show characteristic resilience in the face of minor positive mood increase.     

A goal-striving life event and the onset of hypomanic and depressive episodes and symptoms: perspective from the behavioral approach system (BAS) dysregulation theory

On the basis of the behavioral approach system (BAS) dysregulation theory of bipolar disorder, this study examined the relation between occurrence of a BAS activation-relevant life event--goal striving--and onset of hypomanic and depressive episodes and symptoms. In particular, the authors examined the relation between preparing for and completing final exams (a goal-striving event) and onset of bipolar spectrum episodes and symptoms in college students with bipolar II disorder or cyclothymia (i.e., "soft" bipolar spectrum conditions). One hundred fifty-nine individuals with either a bipolar spectrum disorder (n=68) or no major affective psychopathology (controls; n=91) were further classified on the basis of whether they were college students (i.e., completed final exams). Consistent with the BAS dysregulation theory, preparing for and completing final exams was associated with an increase in hypomanic but not depressive episodes and symptoms in individuals with a soft bipolar spectrum diagnosis. Furthermore, self-reported BAS sensitivity moderated the presence of certain hypomanic symptoms during final exams.     

Comorbid anxiety and mood disorders among persons with social anxiety disorder.

Axis I comorbidity is associated with greater severity of social anxiety disorder. However, the differential effects of comorbid mood and anxiety disorders on symptom severity or treatment outcome have not been investigated. We evaluated 69 persons with uncomplicated social anxiety disorder, 39 persons with an additional anxiety disorder, and 33 persons with an additional mood disorder (with or without additional anxiety disorders). Those with comorbid mood disorders reported greater duration of social anxiety than those with uncomplicated social anxiety disorder. They were also judged, before and after 12 weeks of cognitive-behavioral group treatment and at follow-up, to be more severely impaired than those with no comorbid diagnosis. In contrast, persons with comorbid anxiety disorders were rated as more impaired than those with no comorbid diagnosis on only a single measure. Type of comorbid diagnosis did not result in differential rates of improvement of social anxiety disorder.     

Neuroticism,coping and change in MCMI-II clinical syndromes: test of a mediator model

The aim of the study was to examine prospectively whether coping mediated the relation between Neuroticism and change in different clinical mental syndromes. Assessments were conducted with 154 former psychiatric outpatients six and seven years after their initial contact with an outpatient clinic. Dispositional coping mediated the relation between Neuroticism and change in four of the nine clinical scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-II) (Millon, 1987). High Neuroticism led to coping strategies of disengagement and the venting of emotions and to a lack of problem-focused coping, which in turn translated into a relative increase on the MCMI-II scales. The mediator model of coping was found to apply to the MCMI-II scales "somatoform disorder’, ‘dysthymia’, ‘alcohol dependence’ and ‘thought disorder’. Results are discussed under the perspective of an integration of the positions of the transactional theory of stress and personality psychology. .     

Creative Cognition and Psychosis Vulnerability: What’s the Difference?

Evidence from experimental psychology provides unequivocal support for enhanced creativity among individuals who are prone to psychotic and mood disorders. At the same time, there is strong epidemiological evidence for greater incidence of creative achievement among those diagnosed with bipolar disorder (but not schizophrenia). This review examines the evidence for common factors predisposing an individual to creativity and psychosis, as well as factors that distinguish the capacity for creative achievement from the creative potential that may be inherent in psychosis vulnerability. Factors implicated as common to creative potential and psychosis vulnerability include enhanced divergent thinking, reduced latent inhibition and preattentive filtering mechanisms; on the other hand, greater cognitive flexibility, motivation, and openness to experience tend to be associated with creative achievement, but not psychosis. This evidence is considered with respect to the utility of tailored vocational interventions to effectively harness creative potential, which may be useful for young individuals in the early stages of illness or their unaffected family members.     

A test of the bidirectional association between sleep and mood in bipolar disorder and insomnia

The present study investigates sleep, mood, and the proposed bidirectional relationship between the two in psychiatric disorders. Participants with interepisode bipolar disorder (n = 49), insomnia (n = 34), and no psychiatric history (n = 52) completed seven consecutive days of sleep diaries and mood measures. The interepisode bipolar and insomnia participants exhibited greater sleep disturbance than the healthy control individuals. Negative mood was equally heightened in both interepisode bipolar disorder and insomnia, and there were no differences between the three groups in positive mood. Total wake time was associated with next morning negative mood in bipolar disorder, whereas evening negative mood was associated with subsequent total wake time in both bipolar disorder and insomnia. Additionally, positive mood was associated with subsequent total wake time for the insomnia group. Results support the theory that disruptions in nighttime sleep and daytime mood may be mutually maintaining and suggest the potential importance of transdiagnostic or universal processes.     

Parental Behavior and Vocational Choice: A Comparison of Counselors and Engineers

This study compared the perceived parental behavior characteristics of 41 counselors in training and 33 fifth-year engineering students in a test of a part of Roe's vocational choice theory, which suggests dichotomous pattern of vocational choice: “toward persons” (e.g., counseling) or “toward nonpersons” (e.g., engineering) categories that will have been determined by the nature of the early childhood socialization process. In essence, a person who has experienced a warm loving home situation is more likely to enter a “toward persons” occupation and an individual whose parent-child relationship was emotionally cold will most likely gravitate toward a “toward nonpersons” occupation. Both groups were administered the Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire developed by Roe and Siegelman. The findings lend considerable support to Roe's theory.     

Mood stability versus mood instability in bipolar disorder: a possible role for emotional mental imagery

A cognitive model of bipolar disorder suggests that mental imagery acts as an emotional amplifier of mood and may be heightened in bipolar disorder. First, we tested whether patients with bipolar disorder would score higher on mental imagery measures than a matched healthy control group. Second, we examined differences in imagery between patients divided into groups according to their level of mood stability. Mood ratings over approximately 6-months, made using a mobile phone messaging system, were used to divide patients into stable or unstable groups. Clinician decisions of mood stability were corroborated with statistical analysis. Results showed (I) compared to healthy controls, patients with bipolar disorder had significantly higher scores for general mental imagery use, more vivid imagery of future events, higher levels of intrusive prospective imagery, and more extreme imagery-based interpretation bias; (II) compared to patients with stable mood, patients with unstable mood had higher levels of intrusive prospective imagery, and this correlated highly with their current levels of anxiety and depression. The findings were consistent with predictions. Further investigation of imagery in bipolar disorder appears warranted as it may highlight processes that contribute to mood instability with relevance for cognitive behaviour therapy.     

Relationships among attitudes toward children,women's liberation,and personality characteristics

Replication and extension of a 1973 article, Who Wants the Children?, were undertaken. Attitudes toward child rearing, one's own remembered childhood experiences, views of women's liberation, and personality characteristics were assessed for 76 college students and 63 community residents. Some of the earlier findings were replicated: individuals with highly positive attitudes toward child rearing considered it a more creative and socially valuable activity and anti-liberation women expressed greater personal interest in child rearing than pro-liberation women. The failure to replicate other results suggests that attitudes have changed, with attitudes of the sexes converging. The inclusion of a sample of community subjects here clearly points to the need to employ a representative sample when studying attitudes of far-reaching social significance. Analysis of personality differences between pro- and anti-liberation women revealed some differences but also pointed to contradictions in literature.     

Millennium as Opportunity: Chaos,Creativity, and Guilford's Structure of Intellect Model

In this new millennium, our prospects for creative change may be particularly fluid. Chaos theory is used metaphorically to address aspects of creative process we therefore might note well, linking these both with (a) the operations, products, and contents dimensions of J. P. Guilford's structure of intellect (SI) model and (b) healthier balances we can create between Guilford's divergent and convergent production, both within individuals and cultures. Divergent production, a key operation in Guilford's model, may be viewed both as the major departure it was half a century ago and via the dramatic emergences we see today using a nonlinear dynamic of creativity. The intersection of divergent production with Guilford's products dimension might be linked to multiple creative processes we can ponder metaphorically as strange attractors, and attractor complexes, in a dynamic phase space of mind. Such attractors might trap as well as free us, however, and potential examples are given involving abstraction, unconscious processes, and socially restrictive models of normalcy. Next, Guilford's diverse content areas remind us of aspects of our-indeed, dynamically connected-experience as human beings that may be artificially disconnected and underemphasized in traditional education. All divergent processing operates within a larger context, and its tension with convergent processes contains potential for creative leaps and bifurcations, discussed at both the social and individual levels. Preliminary data on aesthetic preference suggest creative people also may seek challenges and chaotic attractors of higher "dimensionality"; this may help drive the process. Finally, a societal shift toward greater creative openness and growth is recommended, based on advantages for physical and psychological health, and clues to paths that nature finds adaptive. Chaos theory gives us models and metaphors based on an ever more rapid, sensitive, and holistic nonlinear creative process; this can honor one's mental history and complex preconditions while responding instantly to information as subtle as a puff of air. Now, when global change is needed badly, we can use this potential malleability to evolve together toward a healthier future.     

中小学生创造性倾向、智力及学业成绩的相关研究

本研究采用威廉斯创造性倾向量表和瑞文标准推理测验,结合中小学生语文、数学成绩,对524名中小学生进行创造性倾向、智力和学业成绩的相关研究.研究发现:(1)中小学生创造性倾向从小学到初中都处于发展阶段,高中以后基本趋于稳定,中小学生的智力一直处于发展增长趋势;(2)小学生的语文、数学成绩与创造性倾向总分有显著相关,初中生的数学成绩与创造性倾向总分以及四项行为特质都有显著相关,小学、初中和高中学生的语文、数学成绩与智力有显著相关;(3)小学中、低分段语文成绩和低分段数学成绩与其创造性倾向有显著相关,初中学生的语文成绩只有高分段与创造性倾向有显著相关,小学和高中语、数成绩三个分段学生的学业成绩跟智力显著相关.     

Diagnostic accuracy of the Millon test computer reports for bipolar affective disorder

The diagnostic accuracy of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) computer reports was assessed for the sample of 48 patients reliably identified as having bipolar affective disorder. Only 13 of the 48 reports were accurate in classifying the patients as having bipolar affective disorder, and this was significantly (p < .01) less than 50% of the cases. The diagnostic accuracy clearly left much to be desired. Additional research is needed to assess the validity of MCMI diagnostic suggestions for other patient groups.     

Self-esteem, attitude similarity, and attraction

Subjects evaluated three stimulus persons on several rating scales who were either 10%, 50%, or 90% similar to themselves in attitudes Subjects were divided into low, moderate, and high self-esteem groups on the basis of an earlier Q sort The results showed a strong positive relation between perceived similarity and positive attribution for each of the dependent variables, including liking, sophisticated, intelligent, sincere, happy, and a social distance scale A negative relation was obtained for two undesirable traits, arrogant and cynical Self-esteem interacted with similarity on several of the measures The difference between self-esteem groups was largely restricted to highly dissimilar stimulus persons Moderate esteem subjects were more favorable toward dissimilar persons than either of the other two groups, and the high and low groups tended to resemble each other more than either group resembled the moderate esteem group These results were discussed in terms of the relation between self-esteem and adjustment, and in terms of McGuire's (1968) theory that predicts a nonmonotonic relation between self-esteem and attitudes.     

From Implicit Theories to Creative Achievements: The Mediating Role of Creativity Motivation in the Relationship between Stereotypes,Growth Mindset,and Creative Achievement

Research has demonstrated that implicit theories of creativity are crucial in shaping an individual’s behavior and real‐life decisions toward being creative. The present study proposed and examined the underlying mechanisms of how two kinds of implicit theories—the growth mindset of the creative self and the stereotype of creative others—are associated with creative achievements through the mediating role of creativity motivation. Participants were 606 undergraduate students who were enrolled in an education major in two universities in China. Overall, the study found that Chinese students held a positive image toward a creative student, regarding him or her as highly competent, warm, and popular. Student perceptions of a creative other were positively related to their growth mindset of creativity. Moreover, results verified both the mediating role of creativity motivation on growth mindset, as well as the effect of positive stereotyping of the creative other on students’ creative achievement. These findings point to promising creativity motivation strategies including the cultivation of a malleable view of creativity and of creative role models, that may, in turn, promote creative achievement by encouraging students to do, learn, and accomplish new things.     

Rapid Cycling

Rapid cycling is not a distinct disorder, but is a particularly severe form of bipolar disease. One in six patients with bipolar disease seen by psychiatrists either as an outpatient or as an inpatient suffers from four or more episodes per year. If at least four episodes occur within one year, this high-frequency phase is called ?rapid cycling“ (RC). Treatment for bipolar disorder with RC usually includes trialling mood stabilizers, such as lithium, anticonvulsants, and modern antipsychotics.In four out of five RC patients, treatment improves disease progression; however, some patients exhibit RC for many years.Specific studies have raised the suspicion that administering antidepressive therapy could facilitate an unfavorable course of bipolar affective disorder. The present case demonstrates disease progression and treatment attempts in a patient with distinct RC progression.     

GENIUS AND MADNESS?

Abstract— Much evidence has been adduced to support the view, originally proposed by Kraepelin, that mania increases creativity Examples of supporting evidence are findings of similarity in thought between creative persons and manic-depressives and high creativity in normal relatives of manic-depressives However, such data are correlational and are therefore equivocal concerning the hypothesis that mania is a cause of increased creativity The present study analyzed the relationship between mood and productivity in the career of composer Robert Schumann, who has been diagnosed as bipolar Schumann's positive mood was related to increased quantity of his work but not to increased quality, indicating that mania did not increase creativity of thought processes.