Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-kn6lq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-22T03:55:07.436Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Past glories feel good but creative minorities push us forward

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2025

James C. Kaufman ,
Todd B. Kashdan Open the ORCID record for Todd B. Kashdan [Opens in a new window]  and
Patrick E. McKnight
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA james.kaufman@uconn.edu
Todd B. Kashdan*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA todd@toddkashdan.com pem725@gmail.com
Patrick E. McKnight
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA todd@toddkashdan.com pem725@gmail.com
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Historical narratives can satisfy basic individual psychological needs. However, an over-reliance on a group's past can marginalize those who think differently – thus, homogenizing the culture and stifling creativity. By revising narratives to balance the power of collective narratives with the richness of individuality, we foster groups that encourage varied identities.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 47 , 2024 , e183
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Barnett, M. D., Öz, H. C. M., & Marsden, A. D. III. (2018). Economic and social political ideology and homophobia: The mediating role of binding and individualizing moral foundations. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47, 1183–1194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bliuc, A.-M., & Chidley, A. (2022). From cooperation to conflict: The role of collective narratives in shaping group behaviour. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 16, e12670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feldman, G. (2021). Personal values and moral foundations: Examining relations and joint prediction of moral variables. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 12, 676–686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goff, K., Silver, E., & Iceland, J. (2022). The resonance of repression: Moral intuitions, skepticism toward racial injustice, and public support for Trump's “law and order” response to the 2020 racial justice protests. Socius, 8, 23780231221110277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, J., Haidt, J., Koleva, S., Motyl, M., Iyer, R., Wojcik, S. P., & Ditto, P. H. (2013). Moral foundations theory: The pragmatic validity of moral pluralism. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 55–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hundschell, A., Razinskas, S., Backmann, J., & Hoegl, M. (2022). The effects of diversity on creativity: A literature review and synthesis. Applied Psychology, 71, 1598–1634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kapoor, H., & Kaufman, J. C. (2022). Unbound: The relationship between creativity, moral foundations, and dark personality. Journal of Creative Behavior, 56, 182–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kapoor, H., Mahadeshwar, H., Rezaei, S., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Kaufman, J. C. (in press). The ties that bind: Low morals, high deception, and dark creativity. Creativity Research Journal.Google Scholar
Kashdan, T. B. (2022). The art of insubordination: How to dissent and defy effectively. Avery/Penguin.Google Scholar
Kashdan, T. B., Goodman, F. R., McKnight, P. E., Brown, B., & Rum, R. (2024). Purpose in life: A resolution on the definition, conceptual model, and optimal measurement. American Psychologist, 79, 838–853.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaufman, J. C. (2010). Using creativity to reduce ethnic bias in college admissions. Review of General Psychology, 14(3), 189–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaufman, J. C., & Glăveanu, V. P. (2022). Making the CASE for shadow creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 16, 44–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, N. M., Stillman, T. F., Hicks, J. A., Kamble, S., Baumeister, R. F., & Fincham, F. D. (2013). To belong is to matter: Sense of belonging enhances meaning in life. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39, 1418–1427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lasala Blanco, M. N., Shapiro, R. Y., & Wilke, J. (2021). The nature of partisan conflict in public opinion: Asymmetric or symmetric?. American Politics Research, 49, 46–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Livingstone, A., & Haslam, S. A. (2008). The importance of social identity content in a setting of chronic social conflict: Understanding intergroup relations in Northern Ireland. British Journal of Social Psychology, 47, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luria, S. R., O'Brien, R. L., & Kaufman, J. C. (2016). Creativity in gifted identification: Increasing accuracy and diversity. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1377, 44–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marques, J. M., & Paez, D. (1994). The “black sheep effect”: Social categorization, rejection of ingroup deviates, and perception of group variability. European Review of Social Psychology, 5, 37–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nemeth, C. J. (1986). Differential contributions of field of study and minority influence. Psychological Review, 93, 23–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Dyne, L., & Saavedra, R. (1996). A naturalistic minority influence experiment: Effects on divergent thinking, conflict and originality in work-groups. British Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 151–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar