Eva Hoff

A friend living inside me: The Forms and functions of imaginary companions

Imaginary companions and the characteristics of the children who invent them were explored through interviews. Twenty-six children took part. The first aim was to explore the phenomenon in general, the second to investigate the functions of imaginary companions. General findings concerned the kinds of imaginary companions and some facts about the children who created them. The imaginary companions were mostly same-aged children, but some were different kinds of animal or fantasy creatures. The sources of inspiration varied, comprising friends and siblings. Having a place of their own, where the children could develop their imaginary play, was considered important. The study demonstrated various ways of conducting imaginary play. Imaginary companions functioned as inner mentors, assisting the children in their identity formation work. Imaginary companions were experienced by the children as giving comfort and company, bolstering self-regulation and motivation, enhancing their selves, expanding their personality potential, and finally, enriching their lives.

The role of the physical work environment for creative employees – a case study of digital artists

The purpose of the study was to explore the role of the physical environment for creative employees. The results are based on interviews with office-working digital artists. The physical work environment was considered to offer three types of support for creative work for the participants: functional, psychosocial and inspirational. Creative processes would find better breeding ground if functional support, such as adequate lighting and tools, and psychosocial support, such as spatial possibilities for both privacy and communication, were provided. Without inspirational support, such as brainstorming rooms, dynamic planning and imaginative interior design, the work outcome was believed to become less creative. The physical environmental support model can be used by companies with an interest to provide creativity supportive workplaces.

The creative place: the impact of different environmental factors on creativity

In this chapter, different perspectives of the creative place are presented. A main division between cultural and psychosocial factors on the one side and physical aspects on the other side is outlined. Among the cultural and psychosocial factors, there are individual, organizational and cultural sources of impact that may affect the possibilities for creativity and among physical factors, the architecture and interior design of buildings is considered one influence on creativity, and certain regions and cities another. The composition of a creative place in all these respects will constitute a complex interplay of cultural, psychosocial and physical aspects. A geographical place nominated a “creative city” will be appealing due to its busy street life, recreational areas, cultural amenities and its competent, but also diverse and non-segregated population. Such a geographical place will attract high technological companies that in their turn will require suitable economic infrastructure to function. In order to lure the intrinsically motivated creative work force to become employees, the companies have to offer inspiring work places with an open social climate, special rooms for brain-storming, relaxation and exercise. The work place has to provide autonomy, flexibility, creative encouragement and challenges to make the employees want to stay and remain creative. (Less)

Chapter 11 – Personality

Publisher Summary Trait words are the natural units in personality descriptions. Traits capture a persons typical behavior, and thus describe what a person is generally like. The enormous variety of traits, or trait names in use have tempted scholars of personality to construct typological schemata—sometimes termed super factors—of which the most popular include both psychological traits and somatic attributes. These sets of traits are purported to be universal, in the sense that everyone would have them to a greater or lesser degree. Most trait theorists rely on self-report questionnaires and different kinds of multivariate statistical techniques to capture the traits. Factor analysis is the dominating statistical tool. Trait seems to be a practical designation, and looking at the accumulated research, much is done in the field of trait and personality. However, on second thoughts, it may not be as practical as presumed by advocates of the Descriptive Trait Approach in the investigation of personality. Trait does not fit naturally into the individuals historical context, as is necessary to comprehend how distinctive personality features have come about. The main reason for this is that trait is a static concept, a reified once-and-for-all designation.

Fantasy as a driving force: relations between fantasy and motivation in children

The relationship between children’s fantasy involvement and motivational style at school was investigated. Participants were 95 Swedish children in third to fifth grade (9–11 years). Fantasy involvement was measured with the Children’s Fantasy Inventory and motivation in the classroom was measured with the Goal Orientation Scales. Results revealed that being highly imaginative was related to higher mastery goal orientation. Among the two subscales with positive fantasy content, one—fanciful and happy fantasies—was connected to mastery goals. Among the two negative fantasy scales one—scary daydreams and attention lapses—was linked to avoidance goals. An implication of the results for teaching and learning situations is that fantasy involvement may function as a resource for motivating students.

She, You and They – More Actors on the Creativity Research Stage!

Abstract The commentary confirms and builds on Glăveanu’s critical scrutiny of the current stage of creativity research. The need for more actors, theories, methods and definitions will not be fulfilled until critical reflection concerning what has been done and synthesis between different research attempts are achieved. The authors first expand the creativity stage by discussing what will happen in creativity research attempts if we alternate with a “ she, you and they” perspective? They then present a new definition of creativity. Creativity is seen as a collective, generative, novel way of experiencing reality ending with the idea of a shared product that is evaluated as creative in a relevant context. This definition is in line with the development of a new creativity tool or measurement, the Test for Distributed Creativity in Organizational Groups (DOG). The DOG can be used both for measuring the products of creative groups and investigating their processes.

Two sides of the same coin : The experiences of high-achieving women in the Swedish workplace

ABSTRACT Adopting a qualitative approach to the investigation of high achievement, the authors analyzed how high-achieving women in the Swedish workplace made meaning of positive and negative experiences in their work. The data consisted of interviews with 15 women identified as being high achieving in their respective field, and it was analyzed using grounded theory methodology. The women described five distinct experiences that highlighted both the bright side and the dark side to high work performance: (1) going the extra mile in their work, (2) reaching for career goals, (3) experiencing flow and a love for work, (4) working independently and taking the road less traveled, and (5) having high standards and aiming for perfection. The empirical findings relate to existing research literature on grit, work engagement, flow, and burnout. Implications for employers who want to retain and develop high achievers are discussed. The findings suggest that high-achieving women experience it as personally meaningful to engage in high-performance behavior as long as the benefits experienced outweigh the costs, and they are able to do their work on their own terms.

A Meta-Analysis of the Relation between Creative Self-Efficacy and Different Creativity Measurements

This meta-analysis investigated the relations between creative self-efficacy (CSE) and creativity measures and hypothesized that self-assessed questionnaires would have a different relation to self-efficacy beliefs compared to other creativity tests. The meta-analysis synthesized 60 effect sizes from 41 papers (overall N = 17226). Taken as a whole, the relation between CSE and creativity measures was of medium size (r = .39). Subgroup analyses revealed that self-rated creativity correlated higher with self-efficacy (r = .53). The relation with divergent thinking (DT) tests was weak (r = .23). Creativity scales had a medium size relation (r = .43), and was stronger than the relation to verbal performance tasks (r = .27) and figural performance tasks (r = .19). In a comparison between measures focusing on the creative person (r = .47), the creative product (r = .32), and the creative process (r = .27), the person aspect was most strongly linked to CSE. Thus, the relation between self-efficacy and creativity measures is dependent on the type of measurement used, emphasizing the need for researchers to distinguish between different instruments—not the least between self-report scales and more objective test procedures. Conceptual implications are discussed and critique concerning the creativity concept is brought up.

Enhancing team creativity with playful improvisation theater : a controlled intervention field study

ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of an intervention of playful improvisational theater on organizational creativity. Teams from nine participating organizations (N = 93) completed pre- and post-test measures of adult playfulness, workplace playfulness, individual creativity, group creativity, and psychological safety. Group creativity was assessed with the newly developed test Distributed Creativity in Organizational Groups. The intervention group (n = 50) participated in improvisation training, whereas the control group (n = 43) did not. After the intervention, the intervention group reported higher scores of workplace playfulness, individual creativity, and group creativity compared to the control group. Individual creativity was positively correlated with adult playfulness. No differences were found for psychological safety. The findings suggest that organizational playfulness can be increased with brief interventions and that play is a promising enhancer of organizational creativity.