Creativity,Gender and The Family: A Study of Creative Writers

Based on interviews with 20 creative writers, this study explores the relationship between creativity and the family. Although most research in this area addresses the effect of parental influences on young creators, this study examines the effect of being a parent and a spouse once adult creators establish families of their own. The family affects writers in terms of (a) gender expectations, (b) material and symbolic constraints of parenthood, and (c) social support provided by spouses. These social forces affect men and women differently, and may help explain why there have been so few female creators. Locating creativity within the context of family relationships will further expand the study of creativity from a psychological phenomenon to a social process.