Predictors of Negative Creativity in Adults on the Example of Cadets

183

Abstract

The work is aimed at clarifying the contribution of moral identity and Machiavellianism as predictors of negative creativity. Negative creativity is the solution of a legitimate task, as a result of which unintentional harm was inflicted on others. To prevent such an impact on others, it is important to understand which personal characteristics are predictors of behavioral manifestations of negative creativity. The materials of an empirical study obtained on a sample of cadets of one of the universities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (N=277 people, 200 of them men, the average age is 20 years) are presented. We used questionnaires adapted from the Russian sample of Mac IV and NEO-FFI; as well as moral ideality (K. Aquino and A. Reed, II). To diagnose negative creativity, the scales ‘Lies’ and ‘Evil Jokes’ of the questionnaire ‘The Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale’ (Hao et al.) were used. Research hypothesis: the key characteristics of the negative creativity profile of adults (on the example of cadets) are Machiavellianism and low values of moral identity. According to the results, the ability to control one's own impulses and the internalization of moral qualities developed at the average level, as well as high Machiavellianism and average self-control ability, are predictors of negative creativity and risk components. The novelty of the results obtained is that in the case of negative productivity, it is important to take into account not the low development of positive characteristics (conscientiousness and moral identity), but the average values.

General Information

Keywords: negative creativity, adults, Big Five, moral identity, research method of negative creativity, behavioral manifestations of negative creativity

Journal rubric: Psychology of Professional Activity

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw.2021110407

Funding. The reported study was funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), project number 19-013-00240-А.

Received: 06.09.2021

Accepted:

For citation: Meshkova N.V., Enikolopov S.N., Kudryavtsev V.T., Bochkova M.N., Meshkov I.A. Predictors of Negative Creativity in Adults on the Example of Cadets [Elektronnyi resurs]. Psikhologiya i pravo = Psychology and Law, 2021. Vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 90–108. DOI: 10.17759/psylaw.2021110407. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Antropova M.Y., Meshkova N.V. O situacionnyh harakteristikah kreativnosti v social'nom vzaimodejstvii starshih shkol'nikov [Elektronnyi resurs] [On the Situational Characteristics of Creativity in the Social Interaction of High School Students]. Psihologo-pedagogicheskie issledovanija [Psychological-Educational Studies], 2017, Vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 175—185. doi:10.17759/psyedu.2017090318 (In Russ.).
  2. Bochkova V.N., Meshkova N.V. Povedencheskie osobennosti negativnoj i antisocial'noj kreativnosti na primere podrostkov [Elektronnyi resurs] [Behavioral Features of Negative and Malevolent Creativity in Adolescents]. Psihologo-pedagogicheskie issledovanija [Psychological-Educational Studies], 2019, Vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 93—106. doi:10.17759/psyedu.2019110108 (In Russ.).
  3. Znakov V.V. Metodika issledovanija makiavellizma lichnosti [Machiavellianism: psychological property of the individual and the methodology of its study]. Sibirskij psihologicheskij zhurnal [Siberian Psychological journal], 2000, Vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 16—22. (In Russ.).
  4. Kosenkova M.N., Meshkova N.V. Samoocenka i vidy kreativnosti u podrostkov: svjaz' i prediktory [Self-esteem and types of creativity in adolescents: relationship and predictors]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 14. Psykhologiya [Moscow University Psychology Bulletin], 2020, no. 2, pp. 45—61. doi10.11621/vsp.2020.02.03 (In Russ.).
  5. Meshkova N.V., Enikolopov S.N. Negativnaja kreativnost' v obrazovanii: osobennosti, ugrozy i perspektivy issledovanija [Negative Creativity in Education: Features, Threats and Research Perspectives]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie [Psychological Science and Education], 2017, Vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 67—76. doi:10.17759/pse.2017220508 (In Russ).
  6. Meshkova N.V., Enikolopov S.N. Kreativnost' i deviantnost': svjaz' i vzaimodejstvie [Creativity and Deviance: Communication and Interaction]. Psihologija. Zhurnal Vysshej shkoly jekonomiki [Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics], 2018, Vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 279—290. doi:10.17323/1813-8918-2018-2-279-290 (In Russ.).
  7. Meshkova N.V., Shapoval V.A., Gerasimenko E.A., Potarykina M., Meshkov I.A. Lichnostnye osobennosti i antisocial'naja kreativnost' na primere kadetov i sotrudnikov MVD [Elektronnyi resurs] [Personal features and malevolent creativity on the example of cadets and policemen]. Psikhologiia i pravo [Psychology and Law], 2018, Vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 83—96. doi:10.17759/psylaw.2018080306 (In Russ.).
  8. Meshkova N.V., Enikolopov S.N., Mitina O.V., Meshkov I.A. Adaptacija oprosnika ‘Povedencheskie osobennosti antisocial'noj kreativnosti’ [Adaptation of the Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie [Psychological Science and Education], 2018, Vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 25—40. doi:10.17759/pse.2018230603. (In Russ).
  9. Meshkova N.V., Enikolopov S.N., Kravtsov O.G. Psihologicheskij profil' makiavellistov v ramkah issledovanija simptomokompleksa zhertv manipuljativnogo povedenija [Psychological profile of Machiavellians in the Study of the Symptom Complex of Manipulative Behavior Victims]. Sibirskiy Psikhologicheskiy Zhurnal [Siberian journal of psychology]. 2020, Vol. 78, pp. 6—20. doi:10.17223/17267080/78/1 (In Russ.)
  10. Meshkova N.V. [et al.]. Vozrastnye i polovye osobennosti lichnostnyh prediktorov antisocial'noj kreativnosti [Age and Gender Characteristics of Personality Predictors for Antisocial Creativity]. Psihologija. Zhurnal Vysshej shkoly jekonomiki [Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics], 2020, Vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 60—72. doi:10.17323/1813-8918-2020-1-60-72 (In Russ.).
  11. Orel V.E., Sengin I.G. NEO PI R. Questionnaire NEO PI R. Yaroslavl: Publ. ‘Psychodiagnostics’, 2004. 33 p. (In Russ.).
  12. Aquina K., Reed II A. The Self-Importance of Moral Identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002.Vol. 83(6), pp. 1423—1440. DOI:10.1037//0022-3514.83.6.1423
  13. Bandura A. Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1991. Vol. 50, pp. 248—287.
  14. Barbot B. et al. Negative ideation in creative problem-solving is task-specific too: Evidences from a sample of incarcerated juveniles. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 2020. Vol. 38, pp. 100740. doi: 10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100740
  15. McCrae R.R., Costa P.T. Validation of the five — factor model of personality across instruments and observers . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1987. Vol. 52, pp. 81—90.
  16. Hao N., Tang M., Yang J., Wang Q., Runco M.A. A New Tool to Measure Malevolent Creativity: The Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale. Front. Psychol., 2016. Vol. 7, pp. 682. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00682
  17. James K., Clark K., Cropanzano R. Positive and negative creativity in groups, institutions, and organizations: A model and theoretical extension. Creativity Research Journal, 1999. Vol. 12(3), pp. 211—226. doi:10.1207/s15326934crj1203_6
  18. Jonason P.K., Richardson E.N., Potter L. (2015). Self-reported creative ability and the Dark Triad traits: An exploratory study. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2015. Vol. 9(4), pp. 488—494. DOI:10.1037/aca0000037.
  19. Kapoor H. The creative side of the Dark Triad. Creativity Research Journal, 2015. Vol. 27(1), pp. 58—67. doi:10.1080/10400419.2014.961775
  20. Kapoor H., Khan A. The measurement of negative creativity: Metrics and relationships. Creativity Research Journal, 2016. Vol. 28(4), pp. 407—416. doi:10.1080/10400419.2016.1229977
  21. Kapoor H., Khan A. Creators and Presses: The Person—Situation Interaction in Negative Creativity. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2020. Vol. 54, pp.75—89. doi:10.1002/jocb.346
  22. McLaren R.B. The dark side of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 1993. Vol. 6(1—2), pp. 137—144. doi:10.1080/10400419309534472
  23. Runco M.A. Creative morality: Intentional and unconventional. Creativity Research Journal, 1993. Vol. 6(1—2), pp. 17—28. doi:10.1080/10400419309534463
  24. Runco M. A. Hot topic 2. The dark side of creativity: Potential better left unfulfilled. In J. A. Plucker (Ed.), Creativity and innovation: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 49—59). Prufrock Press Inc., 2017.
  25. Shen W. et al. A Theoretical and Critical Examination on the Relationship between Creativity and Morality. Curr. Psychol., 2019. Vol. 38, pp. 469—485. DOI: 10/1007?s12144-017-9613-9

Information About the Authors

Natalia V. Meshkova, PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor, Chair of Theoretical Foundations of Social Psychology, Faculty of Social Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3965-9382, e-mail: nmeshkova@yandex.ru

Sergey N. Enikolopov, PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor, Head of Department of Clinical Psychology, Mental Health Research Center, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7899-424X, e-mail: enikolopov@mail.ru

Vladimir T. Kudryavtsev, Doctor of Psychology, Professor, professor of UNESCO Department of Cultural and Historical Psychology of Childhood, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Expert, Laboratory of Cultural and Historical Models of Education, Institute of Secondary Vocational Education named after K.D. Ushinsky; Professor, Directorate of Educational Programs of the Moscow City University, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9283-6272, e-mail: vtkud@mail.ru

Margarita N. Bochkova, MA in Psychology, Psychologist, Independent Researcher, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1374-2498, e-mail: boschkova.m84@gmail.com

Ivan A. Meshkov, MA in Psychology, Independent Researcher, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8789-4614, e-mail: ivan_meshkov1985@mail.ru

Metrics

Views

Total: 597
Previous month: 9
Current month: 0

Downloads

Total: 183
Previous month: 0
Current month: 0