Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

© 2018 American Psychological Association 2018, Vol. 1, No. 999, 000

1931-3896/18/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/aca0000193

Linking Trauma to Posttraumatic Growth and Mental Health Through

Emotional and Cognitive Creativity

Hod Orkibi and Neta Ram-Vlasov

University of Haifa
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

The association between adverse life events and creativity has almost exclusively been investigated
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

qualitatively and with eminent creators. Also, the mediating roles of emotional creativity (the ability to
experience novel and appropriate emotions), divergent thinking (the cognitive ability to think of multiple
ideas), and creative self-efficacy (CSE; one’s confidence in their ability to be creative) have not been
explored simultaneously or in this context. The goal of the present study was to test a multiple mediation
model which theorized that exposure to traumatic events would be associated with posttraumatic growth
(PTG) and mental health symptoms through emotional creativity, divergent thinking, and CSE in the
general population. Findings from a sample of 252 Israeli adults (73% females, aged 19 –58), of whom
64% had been exposed to war as civilians, showed that exposure to a greater number of traumatic events
was related to higher CSE scores, emotional creativity, and overall divergent thinking. A path analysis
to test indirect effects indicated that emotional creativity (but not divergent thinking) followed by CSE
mediated the positive association between exposure and PTG as well as the negative association between
exposure and mental health symptoms. CSE mediated the association between emotional creativity and
divergent thinking to both PTG and mental health symptoms. The results may provide a better
understanding of possible paths through which exposure to traumatic events relates to psychological
outcomes, highlighting the role of CSE as a mediator that may account for how emotional and cognitive
creative abilities are associated with PTG and mental health.

Keywords: trauma, posttraumatic growth, divergent thinking, emotional creativity, creative self-efficacy

Many people are exposed to potentially traumatic events during
their lives (Benjet et al., 2016; Sledjeski, Speisman, & Dierker,
2008). These are defined as events that are directly experienced,
witnessed, or experienced indirectly, that involve death, serious
injury, or threat to the self or others (American Psychiatric Asso-
ciation, 2013). In a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults,
68% reported experiencing more than one potentially traumatic
event (Goldstein et al., 2016). Among the general population in
Israel, 9% of all adults reported a lifetime prevalence of posttrau-
matic stress (Bleich, Gelkopf, & Solomon, 2003; Hobfoll, Canetti-
Nisim, & Johnson, 2006), with more symptoms during or imme-
diately after a military conflict or terror event (Hobfoll et al., 2008;
Neria, Besser, Kiper, & Westphal, 2010).
Can such adverse life events be related to positive outcomes?
Can creativity play a role in this relationship? Whereas adverse
and potentially traumatic events have been qualitatively associated
with creativity in eminent creators (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Go-
Hod Orkibi and Neta Ram-Vlasov, School of Creative Arts Therapies,
University of Haifa.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Hod
Orkibi, School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, 199 Aba
Khoushy Avenue, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel. E-mail: horkibi@
univ.haifa.ac.il
ertzel, Goertzel, & Goertzel, 1978; Piirto, 1998; Simonton, 2010),
this association has been largely unexplored quantitatively and in
noneminent people. The present study investigated the adversity-
creativity association in a sample drawn from the general popula-
tion in Israel. We examined a multiple mediation model (i.e.,
where several mediator variables operate in parallel and in se-
quence), theorizing that the exposure to potentially traumatic
events could be associated with posttraumatic growth (PTG) and
mental health through emotional creativity, divergent thinking, and
creative self-efficacy (CSE).
Trauma and Posttraumatic Growth
Considerable research indicates that exposure to traumatic
events has a negative impact on physical and mental health (Benjet
et al., 2016). Certain individuals exposed to traumatic events may
nevertheless experience PTG—positive psychological changes ex-
perienced following a traumatic or highly stressful life event
(Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). PTG theories generally suggest that
an experience of adversity shatters individuals’ pretrauma beliefs
about the benevolence, justice, and controllability of the world,
and may cause them to create new beliefs and views that integrate
the negative and positive consequences of the traumatic event, thus
enabling a more elaborated and complex understanding of the self
and the world (C. L. Park, 2004). According to Tedeschi and
Calhoun (2004), there are five domains of PTG: an increase in

1
 2 ORKIBI AND RAM-VLASOV
perceived new possibilities, an appreciation of life, acknowledg-
ment of personal strength, spirituality, and positive relationships in
terms of becoming closer to friends and family. PTG thus involves
a creative reconstruction of an individual’s life narrative in an
effort to make sense of the adversity, find new meaning in the
experience, and create a new strand of continuity that incorporates
the event into a coherent life narrative (Jirek, 2017; Neimeyer,
2001, 2004; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). PTG has been positively,
albeit weakly, associated with self-reported creative growth, the
perceived increase in people’s own creativity as a result of a
traumatic event (Forgeard, 2013). However, a number of alterna-
tive explanations of PTG are less positive, and view people’s
reports of growth after adversity as self-enhancing positive illu-
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sions, avoidance-based defense or coping strategy, and maladap-
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tive reality distortions (Chopko, Palmieri, & Adams, 2018; Jaya-
wickreme & Blackie, 2014; Lahav, Solomon, & Levin, 2016). It
has been suggested that PTG may only be related to lesser psy-
chological distress when actual growth-related actions are in-
volved, rather than merely growth-related cognitions (Hobfoll et
al., 2007). This points to the need to further explore the associa-
tions between traumatic events, creativity, and indicators of well-
being and health.
Trauma, Creativity, and Well-Being
Exposure to a potentially traumatic event disrupts the homeo-
static resting state and triggers a series of responses intended to
enable the organism to adjust to the altered condition (Zemishlany,
2012). Runco (1999) argued that adverse or traumatic experiences
create tension and disequilibrium, which may in turn intrinsically
lead to creative adaptation in terms of reinterpreting the experience
through new emotions and cognitions. Similarly, diversifying ex-
perience theory posits that highly unusual and unpredictable events
or situations, including adverse and potentially traumatic events,
can foster unconventional ideas by disrupting conventional and/or
fixed patterns of thinking and pushing individuals to break bound-
aries and see new perspectives (Damian, 2017; Damian & Simon-
ton, 2015). Historiometric research, biographical case studies, and
qualitative data suggest that creative individuals tend to have
experienced higher rates of adversity, including early family
trauma and loss (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Goertzel et al., 1978;
Piirto, 1998; Simonton, 2010). In particular, the childhood psy-
chological stress associated with social isolation has been defined
as a stressful life event that “can provide the freedom and moti-
vation to observe, create, and fantasize” (Aldwin & Sutton, 1998,
p. 53).
Aside from these studies, however, there are few quantitative
examinations of the association between adversity and creativity.
In one study, Averill (1999) found that a higher number and
greater severity of prior traumatic events were moderately associ-
ated with greater emotional creativity. A survey study showed
relatively small linear associations between creativity (as a char-
acter strength), the number of potentially traumatic events and
PTG (Peterson, Park, Pole, D’Andrea, & Seligman, 2008). A few
experimental studies have reported moderate to strong associations
between the stressful experience of social rejection and better
performance on creative thinking tasks (Akinola & Mendes, 2008;
S. H. Kim, Vincent, & Goncalo, 2013). These findings are some-
what consistent with studies suggesting that under some conditions
negative emotional experiences can facilitate creative performance
(Baas, De Dreu, & Nijstad, 2008; Davis, 2009). In a different
study, the lifetime number of events was a significant predictor of
perceived creative growth, but with a small effect size (Forgeard,
2013). A more recent quantitative study indicated that performing
artists who reported being exposed to a greater number of types of
childhood adversity also reported more intense creative experi-
ences compared to performers with minimal or no childhood
adversity, with a medium effect size (Thomson & Jaque, 2018).
In terms of well-being, most studies to date have focused on the
associations between creativity and psychopathology rather than
creativity and health (Thys, Sabbe, & De Hert, 2014). However,
creativity has long been identified as an important human quality
in the humanistic (Maslow, 1962; Rogers, 1961) and positive
psychology literature (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). In the creativ-
ity literature, Cropley (1990) noted that creativity can be both a
means of artistic expression and a conscious or unconscious force
affecting personal growth. This suggests that creative people can
use their creative skills in coping with and adapting to life. In an
extensive discussion of health and creativity, Runco (2007) re-
viewed empirical evidence on the relationships between creativity
and both psychological and physical health. Notably, creativity
was associated with adaptability, which Runco identified as “one
of the most powerful concepts in the creativity literature” (p. 161).
Cohen’s (2012, p. 8) similar concept of creative adaptiveness
refers to the “ability to adjust flexibly to conditions or environ-
ments in developing new ideas or products while adhering to what
is approved or permitted in a given cultural context.” Relatedly,
creative thinking that is new and helpful was posited to be a
process variable that may promote adaptive future-thinking and
psychological flexibility in clinical interventions (Forgeard & El-
stein, 2014). Some recent empirical studies have shown that ev-
eryday creative activities have small to moderate associations with
feeling happy and active (Conner & Silvia, 2015; Silvia et al.,
2014), experiencing more positive emotions and flourishing in
terms of feelings of purpose and meaning in life, engagement, and
social connectedness (Conner, DeYoung, & Silvia, 2018).
In summary, the qualitative evidence on the adversity-creativity
association has focused on highly creative individuals and it re-
mains unclear how this specific relationship links to PTG and
health in the general population. This study sought to quantita-
tively examine a theoretical model postulating that exposure to
potentially traumatic events may relate to PTG and mental health
through three mediators discussed below: emotional creativity,
divergent thinking, and CSE.
Emotional and Cognitive Creativity
Averill’s conceptualization of emotional creativity is “basically
unidimensional” but factor analysis has suggested that it consists
of the three facets of preparedness, novelty, and a combination of
effectiveness/authenticity (Averill, 1999, 2000, 2009; Sundarara-
jan & Averill, 2007, p. 209). Preparedness refers to the under-
standing of emotions and the willingness to explore emotions.
Novelty refers to experiencing new emotional reactions in com-
parison to a person’s past reactions or to the reference group.
Effectiveness refers to an emotional response that has potential
value and benefit to the person or the group. Authenticity refers to
an emotional response that is self-originated and expresses a
 TRAUMA, CREATIVITY, AND PTG
person’s own values and beliefs. Note that emotional creativity and
emotional intelligence are two distinct sets of abilities: whereas the
former involves the ability to generate a novel and appropriate
emotional response that diverges from the individual’s typical
response, the latter involves the ability to converge to the best
solution to an emotionally related problem (Ivcevic, 2007).
Emotional creativity was shown to be significantly and posi-
tively related to the early experience of traumatic events, hassles,
and minor disappointments during childhood and adolescence
(Averill, 1999). Higher scores on the Effectiveness and Authen-
ticity dimensions of emotional creativity were reported to be
moderately associated with the greater perceived benefit of that
event (Averill, 1999), which is consistent with the conceptualiza-
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tion of PTG. Whereas emotional creativity was positively corre-
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lated with students’ more frequent experience of positive emotions
in the classroom during a semester (love, gratitude, and hope;
Oriol, Amutio, Mendoza, Da Costa, & Miranda, 2016) it correlated
negatively with students’ self-reported alexithymia, both with me-
dium effects (Fuchs, Kumar, & Porter, 2007). The emotional
creativity of young adults was also positively correlated with more
frequent involvement in creative leisure activities such as writing,
painting, composing music, performing drama, and do-it-your-self
home improvement, with small to medium effects (Trnka, Zahrad-
nik, & Kuška, 2016).
Cognitive creativity (i.e., creative ideations or thinking) gener-
ally refers to the ability to generate multiple creative ideas or
alternative solutions to a problem (Guilford, 1967; Torrance, 1998)
and is traditionally measured on divergent thinking tasks that ask
people to generate ideas in response to verbal or figural prompts.
Divergent thinking tasks are scored according to four ideational
outcomes: fluency, which represents the ability to produce many
ideas; flexibility, which represents the ability to produce ideas
from different conceptual categories; originality, which represents
the ability to produce unique and statistically infrequent ideas; and
elaboration, which represents the ability to produce detailed ideas.
The scoring of a divergent thinking task is performed manually by
trained raters and some outcomes are strongly interrelated; for
example, more responses (fluency) lead to more categories (flex-
ibility; Kaufman, Plucker, & Baer, 2008). Divergent thinking tasks
are frequently used to estimate the potential for creative thinking
and future creative achievements (K. H. Kim, 2008; Runco &
Acar, 2012; Runco, Millar, Acar, & Cramond, 2010; Zeng, Proc-
tor, & Salvendy, 2011). The correlations between divergent think-
ing scores (externally rated) and self-reported perceived creativity
vary in the literature, and range typically from zero to moderately
positive (Pretz & McCollum, 2014; Reiter-Palmon, Robinson-
Morral, Kaufman, & Santo, 2012; Silvia, Wigert, Reiter-Palmon,
& Kaufman, 2012).
Finally, there is evidence that divergent thinking components
are moderately predictive of coping abilities in young children
(Carson, Bittner, Cameron, Brown, & Meyer, 1994) and that
divergent thinking flexibility is associated with reduced stress and
higher life satisfaction among hurricane survivors, with medium
effects (Metzl, 2009). Self-reported flexibility was moderately
associated with better well-being among earthquake survivors (Fu
& Chow, 2017), as well as with lower levels of posttraumatic
stress symptoms and higher levels of PTG among veterans (Keith,
Velezmoro, & O’Brien, 2015).
3
Creative Self-Efficacy
Another mediator in our theorized model is CSE, which refers to
a person’s confidence in his or her ability to be creative (Tierney
& Farmer, 2002). CSE is rooted in Bandura’s (1997) social cog-
nitive theory, which posits that strong efficacious beliefs enhance
human achievement and well-being because people who have high
confidence in their capabilities perceive difficulties as challenges
to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided. Bandura argued
that successful mastery experiences are the most effective way to
build strong efficacy beliefs and that “innovativeness requires an
unshakeable sense of efficacy to persist in creative endeavors” (p.
239). CSE is thought to influence whether a person will engage
with (or avoid) a particular creative endeavor, sustain an effort, or
perform at a particular level of creative achievement (Beghetto &
Karwowski, 2017). CSE has been measured as both a domain-
general (Karwowski, 2016) and a domain-specific factor (Be-
ghetto, Kaufman, & Baxter, 2011; Karwowski, Gralewski, &
Szumski, 2015).
To the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined the
association between CSE and emotional creativity, but one study
indicated that general self-efficacy had a small positive correlation
with the emotional creativity of high school students (Zareie,
2014). The empirical findings on the associations between CSE
and divergent thinking are inconsistent: some studies have re-
ported no correlations (Puente-Diaz & Arroyo Judith, 2016;
Puente-Díaz & Cavazos-Arroyo, 2017b; Reiter-Palmon et al.,
2012) whereas others have reported small to medium correlations
(Mathisen & Bronnick, 2009; Pretz & McCollum, 2014; Puente-
Díaz & Cavazos-Arroyo, 2017a). This inconsistency may result
from different operationalizations and measures of CSE as well as
unexplored intervening variables.
Consistent with Bandura’s reasoning, CSE is thought to emerge
and build on successful creative performance. It has been sug-
gested as a possible mediator in the relationship between creative
potential and creative achievement (Karwowski & Barbot, 2016).
CSE has also been proposed as a mediating process variable that
explains how personal and/or contextual factors contribute to cre-
ative outcomes (Choi, 2004; Karwowski, 2016; Puente-Díaz &
Cavazos-Arroyo, 2017b; Qiang, Han, Guo, Bai, & Karwowski,
2018). In a recent review of studies on the mediating role of CSE,
the authors concluded there is “a solid base of empirical evidence
for CSE as an important avenue through which other factors can
build creativity” (Farmer & Tierney, 2017, p. 39). In this same
vein, CSE was reported to mediate the relationship between cre-
ative mindsets and creative problem-solving (Royston & Reiter-
Palmon, 2017) as well as the relationship between intrinsic moti-
vation and creative achievement, and between intrinsic motivation
and well-being indicators, albeit with relatively modest effect sizes
(Forgeard & Benson, 2017).
The Present Study
Although qualitative studies have suggested that the experience
of adversities and traumatic events can predict creative achieve-
ment (Damian & Simonton, 2015; Goertzel et al., 1978; Piirto,
1998; Simonton, 2010), only a few creativity constructs have been
quantitatively associated with PTG (Forgeard, 2013). The present
cross-sectional study sought to extend the literature by (a) quan-
titatively examining the empirical links between trauma and cre-
 4 ORKIBI AND RAM-VLASOV
ativity, (b) examining a sample drawn from the general population,
(c) simultaneously examining the three types of creativity in one
model, and (d) evaluating the possible mediating role of emotional
creativity, cognitive creativity, and CSE.
We tested a multiple mediation model positing three-path me-
diations where two mediators intervene sequentially (i.e., in a
chain) between the independent variable and the dependent vari-
able. Hypothesis 1 posited that exposure to traumatic events should
relate to PTG and mental health through two sequential mediators:
emotional creativity followed by CSE. Hypothesis 2 posited that
exposure to traumatic events should relate to PTG and mental
health through two sequential mediators: divergent thinking fol-
lowed by CSE.
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Method
Participants
An initial sample of 274 adults was recruited from three colleges
in northern Israel and through online social networks. Of this
initial sample, 22 respondents who failed an inattentiveness check
item were excluded, a recommended procedure “which should
improve data quality, power, and reproducibility” (McKibben &
Silvia, 2017, p. 12). The final sample was composed of 252
participants (73% females) aged 19 –58 (M ⫽ 29, SD ⫽ 7.6). The
majority of the sample (60%) identified as Jewish, 30% as Arabs,
and 10% as “other.” Similarly, 60% identified their native lan-
guage (i.e., mother tongue) as Hebrew and 40% as “other.” Most
participants (90%) were bachelor’s-degree students in the social
sciences and 10% were master’s-degree students. Fifty-five per-
cent reported their financial situation was “average,” 40% reported
“above average,” and 5% “below average.”
Measures
Traumatic events. The Traumatic Events Questionnaire
(Vrana & Lauterbach, 1994) asks participants to state whether they
have experienced nine traumatic events such as a serious accident,
death of someone close, physical or sexual abuse, as well as other
events they are asked to list. As in previous studies in Israel (Amir
& Sol, 1999), military and terror-related traumatic events were
added to the original scale, such as serious training accidents,
combat in wars or military operations, missile attacks, and terror
bombings. The total number of events was 30. For each event,
participants were asked to indicate how traumatic the event was for
them on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely). Consistent with
previous studies in Israel, this 5-point scale was recoded into a
dichotomous exposure score: no exposure was coded 0 for rates 1
to 2 and exposure was recoded 1 for rates 3 to 5 (Lev-Wiesel,
Daphna-Tekoah, & Hallak, 2009; Stolovy, Lev-Wiesel, & Witz-
tum, 2015). Then, to obtain a trauma exposure score, according to
the impact on the person, the number of events reported by the
individual was summed; additional points were added if an event
occurred more than once and if it occurred during childhood. The
original questionnaire has shown good validity (Crawford, Lang,
& Laffaye, 2008) and good test–retest reliability coefficients rang-
ing from .72 to .99 (Vrana & Lauterbach, 1994).
Posttraumatic growth. The 10-item Posttraumatic Growth
Inventory Short Form measures self-reports of positive changes
experienced by individuals following a traumatic event. Two items
represent each of the five original subscales of growth: new
possibilities, relating to others, personal strength, spiritual change
and appreciation of life (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996). Items are
scored on a 6-point scale ranging from 0 (not at all/never experi-
enced) to 5 (very much) and the global growth score is calculated
as the sum of all responses. The short form was used to minimize
the burden on participants. The validity of the short version was
confirmed by a strong correlation (r ⫽ .94) with the long version
and good internal consistency reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha
of .86 (Daphna-Tekoah, 2017). In this study, Item 7 (“I have
stronger religious faith”) was deleted following an internal con-
sistency reliability analysis. The final Cronbach’s alpha was .87
for the nine-item scale.
Mental health symptoms. The 12-item General Health Ques-
tionnaire is a self-report measure of the severity of psychological
distress in the last month, with a main focus on depression and
anxiety symptoms (Goldberg & Williams, 1988). The question-
naire consists of six positively worded items (e.g., “felt capable of
making decisions about things”), and six negatively worded items
(e.g., “lost much sleep over worry”). Participants indicate whether
they experienced each symptom in the last month on a scale
ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (always). Positively worded items are
recoded so that high scores represent worse health. Validity has
been reported through significant correlations with many health
and well-being measures and good internal consistency reliability
was demonstrated with Cronbach’s alphas of .82–.86 (Goldberg &
Williams, 1988). In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha was .85.
Cognitive creativity. The Abbreviated Torrance Test for
Adults (ATTA; Goff & Torrance, 2002) assesses four divergent
thinking abilities: fluency, originality, elaboration, and flexibility.
We used Verbal Task 1 for fluency and originality and Visual Task
3 for elaboration and flexibility that have been translated to He-
brew. To establish interrater reliability, two independent raters
with thorough training in rating the ATTA scored 40 tasks, of
which 10 were randomly selected for each subscale, after which
their results were compared. Differences were discussed and the
raters either came to an agreement or corrected errors. To ensure
consistency, one rater continued to grade all tests while discussing
questions with the other rater to achieve consensus (Althuizen,
Wierenga, & Rossiter, 2010). The interrater reliability coefficients
(interclass correlations, ICCs) for the four tasks were Fluency Task
1 (ICC ⫽ .98), Originality Task 1 (ICC ⫽ .91), Elaboration Task
3 (ICC ⫽ .88), and Flexibility Task 3 (ICC ⫽ .88), indicating
excellent reliability (Shrout & Fleiss, 1979). Raw subscale scores
were analyzed in this study because the standard scores in the
ATTA manual are from a sample precluding comparison. A com-
posite ATTA score was computed given our interest in the overall
role of divergent thinking (i.e., “cognitive creativity”), the need for
parsimony, and as suggested in the ATTA manual (Goff & Tor-
rance, 2002, p. 5). We converted each fluency, flexibility, elabo-
ration, and originality score into a z-score and then summed them
(see also Runco et al., 2010).
Emotional creativity. The Emotional Creativity Inventory
(ECI; Averill, 1999) is a 30-item self-report measure that includes
three subscales representing components of emotional creativity:
preparedness, novelty, and effectiveness/authenticity. Respondents
are asked to rate statements concerning the way they think, feel,
and react in a variety of situations, and their opinions on a variety
 TRAUMA, CREATIVITY, AND PTG
of issues. Items are scored on a scale ranging from 1 (much less)
to 5 (much more). The ECI’s validity was confirmed in several
studies that have also showed a test–retest reliability coefficient of
r ⫽ .91 and internal consistency reliability with a Cronbach’s
alpha of .91 for the ECI total score (Averill, 1999). In this study,
the Cronbach’s alpha was .92 for the total score, which was used
given our primary interest in the global construct of “emotional
creativity” as a parallel to “cognitive creativity.”
Creative self-efficacy. The six-item self-report CSE scale is
part of the creative self-concept measure that also includes a
5-item scale of creative personal identity which was not used here
(Karwowski, 2014). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses
suggested the two subscales are correlated but measure distinct
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constructs. A sample item is “I trust my creative abilities.” Partic-
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ipants rate items on a scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to
5 (strongly agree), with high scores reflecting high CSE. Validity
was demonstrated through positive correlations with creative abil-
ities and self-report originality, and internal consistency reliability
was confirmed with a Cronbach’s alpha of .89 (Karwowski, 2014).
In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha for the CSE scale was .83.
Procedure
Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Univer-
sity’s Human Research Ethics Committee. All participants signed
an informed consent form where it was clarified that participation
in the study was on a voluntary basis and it was explicitly ex-
plained that participants had the right to refuse to participate or to
withdraw from the study at any time, without any penalty or
prejudice to their interests. Data were collected using pen and
paper for the divergent thinking test and Internet-based survey
software. All participants were asked to provide their age, gender,
religion, native language, education level, and socioeconomic sta-
tus.
Data Analysis
First, the prevalence of each traumatic event in the sample and
differences in the study variables according to demographics were
examined. Second, bivariate correlations for all the variables were
explored. Third, path analysis tested the theoretical model using
IBM’s AMOS 23 (Byrne, 2016). The model’s fit to the data was
evaluated using the criteria of ␹2/df ⬍3, a comparative fit in-
dex ⱖ0.95, the Tucker–Lewis index ⱖ0.95, and the root mean
square error of approximation ⬍0.80 (Schreiber, Nora, Stage,
Barlow, & King, 2006). The bootstrap method for testing indirect
effects (i.e., mediation) was used with the confidence level set at
0.95 and bootstrap bias-corrected samples set at 5,000. When zero
is not within the 95% confidence interval (CI), the indirect effect
is significantly different from zero at p ⬍ .05 (two-tailed; Preacher
& Hayes, 2004, p. 722). Maximum likelihood imputation was used
to adjust for missing values (Byrne, 2016). Finally, the model’s
invariance across gender was explored with a procedure for mul-
tigroup analysis (Byrne, 2004).
Results
Preliminary Analysis of Demographics
A preliminary analysis indicated that age was positively but
weakly correlated with the composite ATTA score, r ⫽ .18, p ⬍
5
.01 and CSE, r ⫽ .25, p ⬍ .001, and negatively but weakly
correlated with mental illness symptoms, r ⫽ ⫺.15, p ⬍ .05.
Educational level was positively but weakly correlated with the
composite ATTA score, r ⫽ .15, p ⬍ .05 and emotional creativity,
r ⫽ .22, p ⬍ .01.
A multivariate analysis of variance indicated there was no
statistically significant difference in the study variables based on
participants’ financial situation (Wilk’s ␭ ⫽ .928, F(12, 454) ⫽
1.43, p ⫽ .15, partial ␩2 ⫽ .037). A t test for independent samples
indicated one statistically significant difference based on partici-
pants’ native language (Hebrew vs. other). Participants with He-
brew as a native language scored significantly higher (M ⫽ .63,
SD ⫽ 2.88) than other participants (M ⫽ ⫺.98, SD ⫽ 2.58) on the
ATTA, t(250) ⫽ 4.50, p ⱕ .001, with a Cohen’s d ⫽ 0.58
indicating a medium effect size (J. Cohen, 1992). Thus, because
the divergent thinking test includes a verbal task, participants’
native language was included in the subsequent mediation analysis
to control for its potential effect on ATTA scores.
A t test for independent samples indicated there were statisti-
cally significant gender differences for two variables. Females
(M ⫽ 1.06, SD ⫽ .35) scored significantly high than males (M ⫽
.90, SD ⫽ .35) on mental health symptoms, t(250) ⫽ ⫺3.25, p ⱕ
.001, with a Cohen’s d ⫽ 0.46 indicating a medium effect size.
Males (M ⫽ 3.93, SD ⫽ .66) scored higher than females (M ⫽
3.65, SD ⫽ .59) on CSE, t(250) ⫽ 3.24, p ⱕ .001, with a Cohen’s
d ⫽ 0.45 indicating a medium effect size. Given these results, the
model’s invariance across gender was explored.
Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis
We measured the lifetime prevalence of 30 traumatic events. As
can be seen in Figure 1, the most prevalent events in this sample,
in descending order, were: exposure to war as a civilian (63%), car
accident (60%), unexpected sudden death of a significant other
(55%), and a life threatening condition in a close person (42%).
Table 1 presents the means and standard deviations for all
variables with higher scores indicating higher levels of that psy-
chological construct. Note that the CSE mean score in the present
sample was similar to that reported in other studies (e.g., Kar-
wowski, 2014). As can also be seen in Table 1, the sum of
traumatic events correlated significantly and positively with emo-
tional creativity, the composite ATTA score, and three divergent
thinking abilities (fluency, originality, and flexibility) but not with
elaboration. Traumatic events were also significantly positively
correlated with CSE, suggesting that exposure to a larger number
of events may be associated with having a higher sense of CSE.
Moreover, CSE positively correlated with emotional creativity and
all divergent thinking measures except flexibility. CSE also posi-
tively correlated with PTG and negatively correlated with mental
health symptoms.
Theorized Mediation Model
Based on theoretical reasoning, the error terms of PTG and
mental health symptoms were allowed to covary. Emotional cre-
ativity and ATTA were also allowed to covary, but because the
relationship was not significant (p ⫽ .057), the covariance was
removed. The path analysis indicated that the theorized model
depicted in Figure 2 provided a good fit to the data on the fit
indices shown in Table 2 (top row).
 6 ORKIBI AND RAM-VLASOV
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Figure 1. Prevalence of traumatic events.

For the emotional creativity path (Hypothesis 1), two three-
path mediation sequences were tested, each with two mediators
intervening in a sequence between the independent and depen-
dent variable. We calculated a separate z-score for each specific
three-path mediation (Taylor, MacKinnon, & Tein, 2008). The
analysis confirmed a significant indirect association between
traumatic events and PTG through emotional creativity fol-
lowed by CSE as two mediators intervening in a sequence (z ⫽
2.15, p ⬍ .05, indirect effect of ␤ ⫽ 0.013, SE ⫽ 0.01). This
specific three-path mediation was confirmed because the
z-score fell outside the range of ⫺1.96 and ⫹ 1.96, making it
possible to reject the null hypothesis of no mediation, and
indicating the existence of an indirect effect (Taylor et al.,
2008). Similarly, the analysis confirmed a significant indirect
association between traumatic events and mental health symp-
toms through emotional creativity followed by CSE as two
mediators intervening in a sequence (z ⫽ ⫺ 2.50, p ⬍ .05,
indirect effect of ␤ ⫽ ⫺0.021, SE ⫽ 0.01).
In addition, CSE, as single mediator, significantly mediated the
positive association between emotional creativity and PTG (95%
CI [.014, .086], p ⬍ .01, indirect effect of ␤ ⫽ 0.042, SE ⫽ 0.02).
CSE, as single mediator, also mediated the negative association
 TRAUMA, CREATIVITY, AND PTG 7

Table 1
Descriptive Statistics and Correlations

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Traumatic events —
2. Emotional creativity .31ⴱⴱ —
3. Fluency .19ⴱⴱ .18ⴱⴱ —
4. Originality .20ⴱⴱ .12 .82ⴱⴱ —
5. Flexibility .13ⴱ .14ⴱ .31ⴱⴱ .33ⴱⴱ —
ⴱⴱ
6. Elaboration .12 .07 .17 .18ⴱⴱ .33ⴱⴱ —
7. ATTA .23ⴱⴱ .18ⴱ .80ⴱⴱ .81ⴱⴱ .68ⴱⴱ .58ⴱⴱ —
8. CSE .24ⴱⴱ .28ⴱⴱ .16ⴱ .15ⴱ .09 .20ⴱⴱ .21ⴱⴱ —
9. PTG .19ⴱⴱ .39ⴱⴱ .07 .12 –.06 –.03 .04 .29ⴱⴱ —
10. MHS .08 .04 –.06 –.02 –.00 .00 –.03 –.26ⴱⴱ –.16ⴱⴱ —
M (SD) 5.57 (4.60) 2.80 (.63) 5.81 (3.07) 3.48 (2.51) 3.17 (1.40) 10.61 (7.28) .00a (.72) 3.72 (.62) 3.05 (1.18) 1.01 (.35)
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Note. ATTA ⫽ Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults composite score; CSE ⫽ creative self-efficacy; PTG ⫽ posttraumatic growth; MHS ⫽ mental health
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

symptoms. Interpretation of the magnitude of correlations according to Cohen (1992): small ⱖ.10, medium ⱖ.30, and large ⱖ.50.
a
z-Score mean equals 0.
ⴱ
p ⬍ .05. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ .01.

between emotional creativity and mental health symptoms (95%
CI [⫺.126, ⫺.030], p ⬍ .001, indirect effect of ␤ ⫽ ⫺0.068, SE ⫽
0.02). Note that because the CI values did not include zero, the
indirect effect was significantly different from zero and the null
hypothesis of no mediation could be rejected for each of the single
mediator paths (Preacher & Hayes, 2004).
For the cognitive creativity path, a three-path mediation se-
quence was not confirmed (Hypothesis 2). However, the analysis
yielded a significant indirect association where CSE, as a single
mediator, mediated the positive association between ATTA and
PTG (95% CI [.004, .066], p ⬍ .05, indirect effect of ␤ ⫽ 0.028,
SE ⫽ 0.01). CSE, as single mediator, also mediated the negative
association between ATTA and mental health symptoms (95% CI
[⫺.094, ⫺.008], p ⬍ .05, indirect effect of ␤ ⫽ ⫺0.043, SE ⫽
0.02). Again, because the CI values did not include zero, the
indirect effect was significantly different from zero and the null
hypothesis of no mediation could be rejected for each of the single
mediator paths (Preacher & Hayes, 2004).

Figure 2. Hypothesized model linking traumatic events to posttraumatic growth and mental health symptoms.
Standardized regression weights and multiple square correlations are presented. Solid lines indicate path
coefficients significantly different from zero and dashed paths indicate nonsignificant path coefficients. ATTA ⫽
Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults composite score.
 8 ORKIBI AND RAM-VLASOV

Table 2 .05, indirect effect of ␤ ⫽ ⫺0.054, SE ⫽ 0.02). As seen in Table

Goodness-of-Fit Indices for the Five Models 2, the AIC that is used for model comparison, with lower values
reflecting better fit (Schreiber et al., 2006), indicated that the
Model ␹2 df ␹2/df CFI TLI AIC RMSEA alternative model with elaboration as a mediator was superior to all
ATTA 11.49 6 1.92 .97 .90 55.49 .06 other models (AIC ⫽ 50.32).
Elaboration 6.32 6 1.05 .99 .99 50.32 .02
Originality 8.02 6 1.33 .99 .95 52.02 .04
Flexibility 9.33 6 1.56 .98 .92 53.34 .05 Discussion
Fluency 9.82 6 1.64 .97 .91 53.82 .05
The purpose of this study was to quantitatively examine the
Note. ATTA ⫽ Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults composite score; roles of emotional creativity, cognitive creativity, and CSE in the
CFI ⫽ comparative fit index; TLI ⫽ Tucker–Lewis index; AIC ⫽ Akaike relationship between exposure to traumatic events and psycholog-
information criterion; RMSEA ⫽ root mean square error of approximation.
The four alternative mediation models can be seen in Figure 3. ical outcomes in the general population. The findings suggest that
exposure to a greater number of traumatic events was positively
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related to higher CSE, emotional creativity, and overall divergent

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thinking. The positive relationship between exposure and PTG as

In summary, although we found two three-path mediation chains
well as the negative relationship between exposure and mental
in the emotional creativity path (from traumatic events to both
health symptoms were statistically mediated by emotional creativ-
PTG and mental health symptoms), there was no similar three-path
ity followed by CSE. In addition, CSE, as a single mediator,
mediation in the cognitive creativity path. However, in both the
mediated the relationship between emotional creativity and diver-
emotional and cognitive creativity paths, CSE mediated the asso-
gent thinking with both PTG and mental health symptoms. The
ciation between creativity and psychological outcomes as a single
theorized model was not significantly different for female and
mediator. Overall, the R2 values in Figure 2 indicate that about
male participants and out of four alternative models examined
10% of the variance in PTG and 20% of the variance in mental
(which replaced the composite ATTA score by each one of its
health symptoms were explained by the model, with the corre-
components), the alternative model with elaboration as a mediator
sponding medium effect sizes of f 2 ⫽ 0.11 and f 2 ⫽ 0.25 (J.
was superior to all other models. The next section discusses these
Cohen, 1988).
findings in light of theories and previous research.

Theorized Model Invariance Across Gender

Given the abovementioned significant gender differences, we
conducted a post hoc multigroup analysis to test whether the
theorized mediation model differed for females (n ⫽ 184) versus
males (n ⫽ 68). Two models were constructed for comparison: an
unconstrained model that posited a distinct model for each gender
group, and a fully constrained model that posited equality (i.e.,
invariance) on all regression weights between the gender groups
(Byrne, 2004, 2016). The results of the model comparison showed
that the constrained and unconstrained models did not significantly
differ (⌬␹2 ⫽ 21.308, ⌬df ⫽ 14, p ⫽ .094). The Akaike informa-
tion criterion (AIC) that is used for model comparison, with lower
values reflecting better fit (Schreiber et al., 2006), also indicated
that the constrained model (100.755) was superior to the uncon-
strained model (107.447). These findings indicate that overall, the
model was not significantly different for female and male partic-
ipants in this study.
Alternative Mediation Models
We conducted a post hoc path analysis of four alternative
models where only the composite ATTA score was replaced with
each divergent thinking subscale score to pinpoint its specific role
in the model (see Figure 3). Exposure to traumatic events was
significantly and directly associated with fluency, originality, and
flexibility, but only marginally significantly associated with elab-
oration (p ⫽ .054). These findings are consistent with the corre-
lations presented in Table 1. Second, a significant indirect effect
was only found for the elaboration model, with CSE as a single
mediator between elaboration and PTG (95% CI [.009, .078], p ⬍
.05, indirect effect of ␤ ⫽ 0.034, SE ⫽ 0.02) and between elabo-
ration and mental health symptoms (95% CI [⫺.108, ⫺.016], p ⬍
Traumatic Experiences and Creativity
Our findings lend quantitative support to historiometric and
biographical case studies that have probed the association between
adverse life events and creativity (Damian & Simonton, 2015;
Goertzel et al., 1978; Piirto, 1998; Simonton, 2010). The positive
correlations found here suggest that the greater the number of
potentially traumatic events people experience, the more likely
they are to score higher on emotional creativity and overall diver-
gent thinking (i.e., a composite ATTA score). These findings are
conceptually consistent with Runco’s (1999) claim that adverse or
traumatic experiences may create tension and disequilibrium that
may in turn intrinsically motivate individuals toward creative
adaptation in terms of reinterpreting the experience through new
cognitions and emotions. This observation is also in line with the
abovementioned diversifying experience theory (Damian, 2017;
Damian & Simonton, 2015), which posits that exposure to adverse
experiences may equip individuals with the ability to generate
unconventional ideations and emotional responses. As Averill
(1999) noted, “Prior traumatic experiences may lead a person to
think about and be more innovative in emotional response . . .” or
a person who “is innovative emotionally may better remember or
interpret prior events as traumatic . . . [although] a retrospective
reinterpretation of events is not likely to be the entire story” (p.
364). Given the correctional nature of the present data this question
remains be answered in future studies.
Exposure to trauma has been associated with “the cognitive
flexibility necessary for coming up with creative ideas” (Damian
& Simonton, 2015, p. 625), with an outflow of intrusive cognitions
(American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and with deliberate
cognitive processes that signal “initial attempts to reconstruct core
beliefs disrupted by the traumatic event” (Cann et al., 2011;
 TRAUMA, CREATIVITY, AND PTG 9
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Figure 3. Four alternative mediation models linking traumatic events to posttraumatic growth and mental
health symptoms. Standardized regression weights and multiple square correlations are presented. Solid lines
indicate path coefficients significantly different from zero and dashed paths indicate nonsignificant path
coefficients.

Hanley, Garland, & Tedeschi, 2017, p. 526). Conceptually, this
may provide an initial explanation as to why experiencing a greater
number of potentially traumatic events may be directly associated
with cognitive fluency, originality, and flexibility but less so with
elaboration. Whereas fluency, originality, and flexibility have been
shown to be interrelated (Zeng et al., 2011), elaboration is different, in
that producing many original and different ideas in a given timeframe
may limit individuals’ the ability to embellish all of these ideas with
details. The difference between elaboration and other divergent think-
ing abilities has also emerged in creativity studies examining Kirton’s
adaptor–innovator theory (Kirton, 1978, 1994) where innovators are
posited to create change by wildly shifting the existing paradigm,
whereas adaptors create change by restrainedly refining and extending
it by means of introducing novelty into the paradigm in a way that is
creative and generally supportive of the existing paradigm. Studies
generally show that fluency and originality load on the same
factor of the Innovative creative style, whereas elaboration
loads on the Adaptive creative style (K. H. Kim, Cramond, &
Bandalos, 2006; Krumm, Aranguren, Arán Filippetti, & Lemos,
2016; Krumm, Lemos, & Filippetti, 2014). Taken together, our
findings lend further credence to the view that each divergent
thinking ability may have an independent meaning and thus
should be interpreted separately (K. H. Kim, 2011).
Potential Mechanisms of Change
The current findings also contribute to a better understanding of
the ways in which exposure to trauma may relate to positive
psychological outcomes. Specifically, we found that emotional
creativity followed by CSE (as two sequential mediators) statisti-
cally mediated a positive association between exposure and PTG
as well as a negative association between exposure and mental
health symptoms. Surprisingly, although the direct association
between exposure to traumatic events and overall divergent think-
ing (i.e., a composite ATTA score) was significant in the model
(see Figure 2), we did not find a similar three-path mediation in the
cognitive creativity path. This may suggest that a different mech-
anism may exist for the emotional and the cognitive creativity
paths but further studies are needed to test this hypothesis.
Another significant theoretical contribution is the role of CSE as
an underlying mediator through which emotional creativity, over-
all divergent thinking, and elaboration relate to psychological
outcomes. Our findings are consistent with earlier studies linking
emotional creativity to general self-efficacy (Zareie, 2014), overall
divergent thinking to CSE (Mathisen & Bronnick, 2009; Pretz &
McCollum, 2014; Puente-Díaz & Cavazos-Arroyo, 2017a), and
elaboration to CSE (Byrge & Tang, 2015). In line with previous
 10 ORKIBI AND RAM-VLASOV
considerations of CSE as a mediator (Karwowski & Barbot, 2016;
Puente-Díaz & Cavazos-Arroyo, 2017b; Royston & Reiter-
Palmon, 2017), our findings hint that CSE may account for how
emotional and cognitive creative abilities may associate with pos-
itive psychological outcomes of greater PTG and better health.
This view corresponds with Bandura’s (1997) principal hypothesis
that strong efficacious beliefs lead to positive changes in well-
being, which has been largely supported across domains (see
reviews in Maddux, 1995; Pajares & Urdan, 2006; Schwarzer,
1992).
The findings that only overall divergent thinking and elabora-
tion as a single mediator significantly related to CSE may either
suggest that together, the four divergent thinking abilities have an
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aggregated impact on CSE (i.e., an aggregation hypothesis) or that
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elaboration is a crucial factor in this relationship (i.e., a particu-
larization hypothesis). Similarly, significant mediations were only
found in the elaboration model, with CSE mediating the positive
indirect association between elaboration and PTG and with CSE
mediating the negative indirect association between elaboration
and mental health symptoms. Through the lens of the adaptor–
innovator theory, it makes sense that out of the four divergent
thinking abilities, a significant indirect association was only found
for the elaboration model. As noted, PTG does not involve “wildly
shifting the existing paradigm” in terms of relentlessly displacing
the traumatic experience; rather it involves creating a new strand
of continuity that incorporates the experience into a continuous
and coherent life narrative (Jayawickreme & Blackie, 2016; Jirek,
2017), with a more elaborated and complex understanding of the
self and the world (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2006). Whereas elabo-
ration refers to the ability to generate detailed ideas (Goff &
Torrance, 2002), the PTG process also includes creative elabora-
tion of one’s narrative, feelings, and responses to the traumatic
event (Neimeyer, 2004).
Limitations, Future Directions, and Implications
This study has several limitations that delineate directions for
future research. First, the cross-sectional design in this study does
not allow for causal inference; future studies should collect longi-
tudinal data to examine the effect of time and the possibility of
reverse causation. Second, whereas divergent thinking was mea-
sured with an objective time-limited performance task, CSE and
emotional creativity were measured using self-reports. Future stud-
ies should include peer or spouse evaluation of emotional creativ-
ity to enhance the robustness of the results and overcome social
desirability and consistency motif biases that can influence partic-
ipants’ responses (N. K. Park, Chun, & Lee, 2016). Third, specific
correlates of the five PTG dimensions were not examined because
we used the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory Short Form to min-
imize the burden on participants. A more nuanced picture of the
links between creativity and PTG dimensions should be explored
in future studies. Fourth, although the association between PTG
and mental health symptoms was significantly negative in this
study, future studies should examine the conditions in which
perceived PTG can be translated into growth-related actions and
actual positive functioning (Hobfoll et al., 2007). Fifth, PTG
dimensions should be examined for cultural variations because
values underlying the idea of human growth are likely to vary
across cultures (Vázquez, Pérez-Sales, & Ochoa, 2014). Cultural
variations should also be examined in terms of emotional creativity
(i.e., specifically with respect to the idea of generating new or
unusual and appropriate emotional responses), divergent thinking
abilities, and the self-rating of creativity (Glăveanu & Tanggaard,
2014; Kwan, Leung, & Liou, 2018). Last, 73% of our sample was
female. Studies have often suggested that women exhibit more
emotional creativity (Averill, 1999) and PTG than men (Akbar &
Witruk, 2016). Thus gender should be taken into consideration
when interpreting the results and a more gender-balanced sample
should be recruited in future studies, although other studies with
CSE have had similar gender distributions (e.g., Royston & Reiter-
Palmon, 2017).
Despite these limitations, these findings underscore the impor-
tance of examining whether creativity enhancement programs can
lead to changes in perceptions of benefits in the aftermath of
traumatic events through changes in the variables measured in this
study. In fact, studies have reported associations between partici-
pation in group (Byrge & Tang, 2015) and online (Robbins &
Kegley, 2010) creativity training and an increase in divergent
thinking components and CSE that were measured before and after
the program. Therefore, the next step could be to investigate
whether and how creativity training may help regulate distressing
feelings and thoughts associated with adverse life events and
trauma. Another important avenue would be to investigate which
events in an individual’s history are the most highly associated
with emotional creativity, each of the divergent thinking abilities,
and CSE. Going beyond exposure to adversity, studies should
examine the unique association between different posttraumatic
stress symptoms and creativity, including hypervigilance (an en-
hanced state of sensory sensitivity and awareness), reexperiencing,
nightmares, flashbacks, and so forth. It is worth nothing that the
association between adversity and creativity differs from the as-
sociation between psychopathology and creativity (Thys et al.,
2014): whereas the former is attributed to an external stressful or
traumatic event, the latter is attributed to an internal (i.e., personal)
psychiatric vulnerability. In terms of the Four Ps framework for
creativity (Rhodes, 1961), this distinction corresponds to studies
on the Press (i.e., place or environment) that fosters creativity
versus studies on the Person performing the creative act.
Clinically, most creativity-based interventions and protocols
have focused on processing traumatic experiences through art-
making (Rowe et al., 2016; Schouten, de Niet, Knipscheer, Kleber,
& Hutschemaekers, 2015), dance and movement (Ho, 2015;
Levine & Land, 2016), music (Bensimon, Amir, & Wolf, 2012;
Story & Beck, 2017) and drama (Hudgins & Toscani, 2013;
Sajnani & Johnson, 2014), whereas fewer have focused on foster-
ing PTG (Garland, Carlson, Cook, Lansdell, & Speca, 2007; Kern
& Perryman, 2016). Creative approaches that aim to facilitate the
processing of a traumatic experience posit that creative, symbolic
or direct self-expression of a passively experienced trauma pro-
vides an opportunity to actively give aesthetic form, shape, make
sense, and ultimately gain a sense of mastery over overwhelming
emotions, thoughts and bodily sensations (Rose, 1987). The exter-
nalization of an inner trauma enables it to be witnessed by the self
and others and thus be integrated into a coherent meaningful
narrative (Richman, 2013). To date, clinical interventions that
specifically aim to facilitate the process of PTG mostly follow an
existential-narrative-cognitive framework employing creative nar-
rative methods (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2013; Tedeschi, Calhoun, &
 TRAUMA, CREATIVITY, AND PTG
Groleau, 2015; Tedeschi & Moore, 2016). Along these lines, a
related theoretical and clinical direction would be to examine
creativity variables as moderators that may buffer the trauma-
symptoms association or strengthen the trauma-PTG association.
Conclusion
Positive self-belief in one’s creative abilities may thus play a
significant role in the posttrauma growth process in that it reflects
the perseverance and confidence that are essential to the develop-
ment of PTG. As trauma often involves the disruption of funda-
mental beliefs about the world, internal resources may be more
fundamental to PTG than external resources (Hanley et al., 2017).
One central resource is the ability to make growth interpretations
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that include a positive reappraisal of adverse events as beneficial
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and/or meaningful. Evidence suggests that the ability to generate
novel and appropriate interpretations of negative pictures (i.e.,
“creative reappraisals”) promotes a more adaptive reaction to those
pictures in terms of reducing the unpleasant feelings that arose
from looking at them (Wu, Guo, Tang, Shi, & Luo, 2017). Simi-
larly, Runco (2006) argued that “the key mechanism in personal
creativity is the capacity to produce an original interpretation of
experience” (p. 101). A perceived need for adaptation depends
more on subjective personal interpretations of experiences than on
objective experiences (Runco, 1999). This idea is consistent with
evidence that subjective measures of perceived stress are more
often associated with health outcomes than objective measures of
stressful events (Augustine et al., 2011). Individuals who experi-
ence the same event can be affected differently so that while one
person may see a problem, or interpret a situation as stressful,
another may not. Our findings suggest that in people exposed to
potentially traumatic events, a potential key mechanism linking
both emotional and cognitive creativity to positive psychological
outcomes (PTG and mental health) is having a positive subjective
belief in one’s own creative abilities. In short, CSE may reflect
belief in one’s ability to generate novel and adaptive emotional and
cognitive responses to an adverse situation. However, this hypoth-
esis warrants further investigation with a CSE measure that is
specific to the PTG domain, unlike the general CSE measure used
in this study.
Overall, it is surprising that the literature has not investigated
constructs that are well researched by creativity researchers (i.e.,
CSE, divergent thinking, emotional creativity) as change process
variables that may point to possible mechanisms of change in
clients during creativity-based interventions to increase PTG and
mental health. Future research could further advance the interdis-
ciplinary connections between trauma and creativity studies by
examining personal (e.g., openness to experience and resilience)
and environmental (e.g., availability of care and resources) factors
that may reveal individual differences in the extent to which some
people grow from adverse experiences and others do not. We hope
that the current findings will stimulate psychology, creativity and
creative arts therapies researchers to share knowledge and exper-
tise that may help better determine how creativity and the arts can
benefit people coping with trauma.
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Received January 9, 2018
Revision received May 20, 2018
Accepted May 24, 2018 䡲