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26 - Individual and Group Creativity

from Collaborative Creativity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2019

James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

In this chapter, I discuss creativity defined as a particular type of process through time. I argue that all creative processes occur on two levels of analysis simultaneously– the individual and the group. Psychologists who study creativity hold that individuals are the causal drivers of each creative process and that groups and societies are secondary considerations. Sociologists and anthropologists are more likely to hold that the group level of analysis provides a more complete explanation of specific creative processes, although individual factors may still play a role in those explanations. In this chapter, I attempt to reconcile these two explanatory approaches by providing a framework of collaborative emergence. I argue that all creative processes involve both an individual and a group level of analysis and that a complete explanation of the creative process must incorporate explanations at both levels.
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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