No pain, no gain: an examination of the effects of self-threat on creativity

Abstract

This paper investigates how different forms of self-threat influences different types of creativity. It examines which forms of self-threat hinder or boost creative capacity. The author illustrates the proposition that the threat from fixed self-domain enhances convergent creativity and that threats from dynamic self-domain enhance divergent creativity. This research adds to current knowledge of creativity literature by highlighting self-threats and it differentiates effects on both divergent creativity and convergent creativity.