PsyPost
No Result
View All Result
PsyPost
No Result
View All Result
Home Exclusive Mental Health

Can creativity beat death? New study suggests creatives worry less about dying

by University of Kent
December 1, 2016
in Mental Health
Photo credit: Flickr user Bart

Photo credit: Flickr user Bart

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Creative achievement can provide a buffer against being anxious about death, research from psychologists at the University of Kent shows.

Creative people, such as newly-announced Nobel Prize for Literature winner Bob Dylan, are often thought to be motivated by the desire to leave an enduring cultural legacy. Through their creative work, creatives such as Leonard Cohen and David Bowie continue to live on in our culture even after passing away.

Conversely, the destruction of ancient monuments and artefacts in Iraq in 2015 by members of Islamic State could be interpreted as a symbolic act aimed at achieving high negative impact on society through the destruction of a cultural legacy.

Now research, conducted by Rotem Perach, a postgraduate researcher at Kent’s School of Psychology under the supervision of Dr Arnaud Wisman, shows that those with high levels of creative ambition and achievement are particularly likely to be more resilient to death concerns.

In what is thought to be the first empirical study of the anxiety-buffering functions of creativity among people for whom creativity constitutes a central part of their cultural worldview, the research analysed findings from a group of 108 students.

The students completed two questionnaires to gauge their level of creative achievement and creative ambition. Those with a record of creative achievement, coupled to high levels of creative ambition, were found to make less death associations in their thought processes after thinking about their own demise in comparison to those in the control condition.

In comparison, among those with low levels of creative ambition – whatever their record of creative achievement – thinking about their own mortality did not affect their levels of death-thought accessibility in comparison to controls.

The findings suggest that those who pursue creativity and produce significant creative contributions may benefit from existential security in the face of death.

The paper, entitled Can Creativity Beat Death? A Review and Evidence on the Existential Anxiety Buffering Functions of Creative Achievement, is published in the Journal of Creative Behavior.

ShareTweetSendScanShareSharePinSend

Get all the latest updates on new psychology research with the free PsyPost app.
 


NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP

STAY CONNECTED

TRENDING

Children who play more video games show greater gains in intelligence over time, study finds

Psychopathic women who desire marriage are more likely to experience insults from their partner

Optimism is associated with higher cognitive abilities, study finds

Young children are more irritable when their mother has emotion regulation difficulties

New study suggests that psychopathic individuals tend to become even worse after age 50

Brain imaging study suggests that drinking coffee enhances neurocognitive function

RECENT

Study sheds light on the neurocognitive processes linked to perceiving social injustice during arrests of Black civilians

Children who play more video games show greater gains in intelligence over time, study finds

Study finds contrapposto poses in male models influence perceptions of attractiveness and masculinity

Young children are more irritable when their mother has emotion regulation difficulties

Women who dress provocatively are judged negatively by other women due to perceptions of promiscuity

  • Cognitive Science
  • COVID-19
  • Mental Health
  • Social Psychology
  • Drug Research
  • Conspiracy Theories
  • Meditation
  • Psychology of Religion
  • Aviation Psychology and Human Factors
  • Relationships and Sexual Health
Powered by

About

PsyPost is a psychology and neuroscience news website dedicated to reporting the latest research on human behavior, cognition, and society. (READ MORE...)

  • Contact us
  • Privacy policy

No Result
View All Result
  • About
    • Newsletter signup form
  • Cart
  • Checkout
  • Contact
  • Contact us
  • My account
  • Privacy policy
  • Psychology news
  • PsyPost app privacy policy
  • Shop
  • SmartMag Home

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used.