Being Nice to Yourself Increases Creativity

When you write (draw, play a musical instrument, or brainstorm), are you as accepting of your creations or ideas as you would be of a friend's? Most of us are not. We criticize ourselves, telling ourselves we are not good at this or that, that we don't have the skill or the talent, that our ideas are not worth pursuing, etc., etc. Imagine your friend playing a piano piece - would you criticize him/her for not being perfect and dismiss the attempt as not being worthy, or instead would you be encouraging and simply nice to your friend, saying that he/she did a good job? So what if, just if, we tried to be as nice to ourselves as we would be to our friend. Perhaps this would remove some of the barriers and let our natural talents reveal themselves...

Research shows that this is the case. In our recent research study we set out to exanube whether a self-compassionate attitude would increase people's creativity, especially of those who are chronically self-judgmental. Half of the participants were induced with a self-compassionate mindset prior to performing a creativity task. This was done by having participants write about a negative personal experience from the past, and then listing ways in which others also experience similar events, express understanding, kindness, and concern for the self in a manner similar to the way in which they would sympathize with a friend who had undergone the experience, and view the event in an objective and detached manner. It was found that specifically individuals high in self-judgment significantly benefited from such self-compassionate mindset, as their creative originality was much higher than that of their less self-judgmental counterparts.

So next time you catch yourself dismissing your ideas or creative attempts as not good enough, think whether you would have the same response to a friend. If the answer is no, simply think how you would treat a friend in a similar situation, and apply that attitude towards your own creative endeavors. It is bound to help you relax and tap into your enormous well of creative potential!

References

Leary, M. R., Tate, E. B., Adams, C. E., Allen, A. B., & Hancock, J. (2007). Self-compassion and reactions to unpleasant self-relevant events: The implications of treating oneself kindly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 887-904.

Neff, K. (2003a). Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity, 2, 85-102.

Zabelina, D. L., & Robinson, M. D. (2010). Don't be so hard on yourself: Self-compassion facilitates creative originality among self-judgmental individuals. Manuscript submitted for publication.