Creativity Is Not All Benign: Relationships Among Neutral Creativity, Social Creativity, Prosociality, and Antisociality

Abstract

Everyone possesses creativity, helping them generate novel and useful ideas. It is commonly believed that creativity is beneficial to the world. However, do people who use creativity benevolently also have the capacity to use creativity malevolently? Some researchers find positive correlations between benevolent creativity and creativity that is neutral—neither benevolent nor malevolent—and argue neutral creativity predicts prosociality, the social form of benevolence. However, just as creativity can be used for benevolent and neutral purposes, it can also be used for malevolent purposes. Thus, a domain-general mechanism may underlie all creativity—including neutral, prosocial, and antisocial. In the present research, three studies addressed whether this domain-general mechanism exists, and whether neutral creativity predicts prosocial or antisocial behavior. In Study 1, subjects participated in tasks measuring neutral, prosocial, antisocial, and perspective-taking creativity, and in a task measuring prosociality. Scores in creativity tasks positively correlated with one another, indicating domain generality among neutral and social creativity. Neutral, prosocial, and antisocial creativity all positively correlated with prosociality, suggesting that creativity itself may predict prosocial behavior. Studies 2 and 3 addressed whether creativity’s relationship with social behavior extends to antisociality. In Studies 2 and 3, participants’ neutral creativity, prosociality, and antisociality were measured. Results were inconclusive and failed to replicate Study 1’s finding, suggesting there may be limits to creativity’s relationship with social behavior. Implications for interpreting current literature, limitations, and future directions are discussed. The danger and inaccuracy of assuming creativity is used only for benevolent purposes or by benevolent people is addressed.