PSA7018

EXPLORING
Creativity & Resilience
in the Movie
’A BEAUTIFUL MIND'

A positive psychology
critical review

01/10/2024 1
*A Human Drama 2001
*Directed by Ron Howard
*Based on the biography of the
Mathematician John Nash (1928-
2015), who won a Nobel Price in
Economics in 1994
*Written by Sylvia Nasar, 1998

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 Positive Psychology in the Movies
• Positive psychology is a
modern, progressive
psychological approach that
seeks to understand and promote
the factors that lead to human
flourishing rather than focusing
solely on the treatments of
mental illnesses (Peterson,
2006).
• A meaningful movie experience
is entertaining, captivating, and
uplifting. By watching a
meaningful movie, we pay close
attention, and we are motivated to
do good deeds or get fresh
perspectives on the current state
of humanity (Niemiec, 2020)
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 Positive Psychology Movie Criteria (Niemiec, 2007)
• 1. It contains a portrayal of a
character’s strength.
• 2. It contains depictions of obstacles,
adversity, and struggles or conflicts the 4
character faces in expressing strength.
• 3. It contains a portrayal that illustrates
how to overcome these obstacles and
build or maintain strength.
• 4. It contains a tone or mood (e.g.,
“light” or “dark”) that is uplifting or
that speaks deeply to the human
condition.
01/10/2024
 Schizophrenia
DSM-5: Schizophrenia is a severe,
long-lasting, and potentially impairing
mental illness. It has a strong genetic
component and is characterised by
remission and relapse episodes
throughout the lifespan (APA, 2013).

Includes:
Hallucinations, Delusions, Depression,
Disorganised speech, Mania
Abnormal psychomotor behaviour,
Negative symptoms, Impaired cognition.

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01/10/2024 6
Creativity is the capacity to generate or create
innovative ideas, theories, methods, or concepts. A creative
person usually exhibits expressiveness, inventiveness, and
uniqueness to solve complex scientific theories, social ideas
or innovative works of art (Diedrich et al, 2015)

A recent study showed a

positive relationship between
creativity and subjective
well-being after controlling
the effect of self-perceived
stress (Tan et al, 2021).
CREATIVITY AND SCHIZOPHRENIA

*Previous research indicates a strong

connection between schizophrenia and
creativity (Abraham et al. 2007; Jaracz et
al., 2012).

* Further support for this theory comes

from research demonstrating that
metacognitive ability (creative thinking) is
correlated with functional outcomes in
schizophrenia and acts as a mediator
between neurocognition and functional
results in this illness (Davies et al. 2018). 8
 Portrait of Resilience as a Human Strength

• Resilience processes are the coping • The process of adapting

well in the face of
mechanisms, either short- or long-
adversity, trauma,
term, that a person learns by tragedy, threats or even
gradual exposure to a range of significant sources of
stresses and difficulties that help in risk. (APA, 2019)
the process of bouncing back
(Rutter, 1987).

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THE 3 P’S MODEL The way we interpret the following might have an
impact on our capacity to be resilient:
MARTIN SELIGMAN
(1991)
1. Personalisation- is your belief
that you are the only one responsible.

2. Pervasiveness- is believing that

the condition would somehow have a
global impact on every aspect of your
life.

3. Permanence- refers to the belief

that this occurrence, emotion, or
condition that happened is permanent. 10
 Schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia has an estimated 80%
heritability and is associated with a wide
variety of genes, according to
Neuroscience Research Australia (2017).
• The NICE Guidelines (2014)
recommend antipsychotic medications
combined with psychological
interventions (individual CBT and
family psychoeducation) in severe cases
when there is a possibility of harm,
hospitalisation is required.
• Schizophrenia is labelled as
one of the most disabling
lifelong mental illnesses, and
the research shows that the
rates of recovery and
readmission in schizophrenia
before 1950 were the same,
and antipsychotic
medications may perhaps be
more harmful than beneficial
(Whitaker, 2004).
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HOW MEDIA
PORTRAITS Research has repeatedly shown that
Media provide overwhelmingly
SCHIZOPHRENIA dramatic and distorted
representations of schizophrenia,
highlighting the danger, criminality,
and unpredictable nature of the
sufferers. Media representations
have significant harmful effects on
those with mental illnesses that
might result in social rejection,
mockery, fear, and insults (Stuart,
2006).
Research between 1990-2010,
including 41 movies found:
-most characters displayed some
positive symptoms
-delusion, visual, auditory
hallucinations
-the majority showed violence
- 1/3 displayed homicidal
behaviour
- 25% committed suicide
(Owen, 2012).,,
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 BIOPIC ELEMENTS IN
THE MOVIE P
(PROTECTIVE FACTORS)
E
R
M
A
Seligman
(2010)

A 2014 study found that perceived social

support and connectedness correlate
positively with Resilience (Pidgeon et al.,
2014).
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THE REALITY
• As a child, refused social events, tortured animals and enjoyed making experiments (bombs)
• As a student, he was not very well accepted socially
• His thesis was not approved by his professors
• He was fired from Rand Corporation for indecent behaviour for his many homosexual affairs
• Before meeting his wife Alicia, he had a child with another woman and wanted to give him
up for adoption
• His paranoia led him to escape to Europe
• Alicia divorced him in 1963 and remarried him in 2001
• He was in and out of mental hospitals longer than a decade

* Book: The Essential John Nash; Written by Nash (2001)

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 Atypical representation of Schizophrenia and
unseen positive character strengths

• Creativity, Love of learning, Pervasiveness, Self-Control, Resilience

• Academic Success and Accomplishment
• Coping Mechanisms when dealing with the symptoms of schizophrenia
• Interpersonal Resilience and Connectedness
• Overcoming Stigma
• Acceptance of the illness

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 CINEMA THERAPY

• In cinema therapy, educators utilise movies to spark

conversation, draw attention to relationship topics, and
provide ideas for effective psychoeducation methods.
Research has demonstrated that watching movies can help
promote reflection and increase empathy (Raingruber,
2003).

Sample Footer Text 01/10/2024 16

The Real Alicia and John Nash 2002

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REFERENCES
• Abraham, A., Windmann, S., McKenna, P. & Güntürkün, O. (2007). Creative thinking in
schizophrenia: the role of executive dysfunction and symptom severity. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry.
12, 235–258.
• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
(5th Edition). Washington, DC.
• American Psychological Association. (2014). The Road to Resilience. Washington, DC. USA.
• Davies, G. & Greenwood, K. (2018). A meta-analytic review of the relationship between
neurocognition, metacognition and functional outcome in schizophrenia. Journal Mental Health. 0,
1–11.
• Diedrich, J., Benedek, M., Jauk, E., Neubauer, A.C. (2015). Are creative ideas novel and useful?
Psychol. Aesthet. Creat. Arts. 9, 35–40.
• Howard, R. (2001). A Beautiful Mind. Universal Pictures. Chicago. USA.

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 REFERENCES
• Jaracz, J., Patrzała, A. & Rybakowski, J. K. (2012).Creative thinking deficits in patients with
schizophrenia: Neurocognitive correlates. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 200, 588–593.

• Nasar, S. (2012). A Beautiful Mind. United Kingdom: Faber & Faber.

• National Institute for Care and Health Excellence. (2014). Psychosis and schizophrenia in adults:
treatment and management. NICE guideline. Clinical guideline. 178.

• Neuroscience Research Australia. (2017). Schizophrenia. Neuroscience Research Australia (Neu.

Ra). Doi: https://www.neura.edu.au/health/schizophrenia

• Niemiec, R.M., & Wedding, D. (2007). Positive Psychology at the Movies: Using Films to Build
Virtues and Character Strengths. Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.

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REFERENCES
• Niemiec, R. M. (2020). Character strengths cinematherapy: Using movies to inspire change, meaning,
and cinematic elevation. J Clin Psychol. 76: 1447–1462. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22997

• Owen, P. (2012). Portrayals of Schizophrenia by Entertainment Media: A Content Analysis of

Contemporary Movies. Psychiatric Services Volume. 63, 7, 627-724.

• Peterson, C. (2006). A Primer in Positive Psychology. Oxford University Press. New York, NY. USA.

• Pidgeon, A., Rowe, N., Stapleton, P., Magyar, H., & Lo, B. (2014). Examining Characteristics of
Resilience among University Students: An International Study. Open Journal Of Social
Sciences. 02(11), 14-22. Doi: 10.4236/jss.2014.211003
• Raingruber, B. (2003). Integrating aesthetics into advanced practice mental health nursing: Commercial
film as a suggested modality. Issues in Mental Health Nursing. 24, 467–495.

• Rutter, M. (2013). Annual research review: Resilience - clinical implications. The Journal of Child
Psychology and Psychiatry. 54, 474-487. 20
.
REFERENCES
• Seligman, M. E. P. (1991). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. Pocket
Books. New York. USA.
• Seligman, M. (2010). Flourishing: Positive psychology and positive interventions. The Tanner
Lectures on Human Values. University of Michigan. USA.
• Stuart, H. (2006). Media portrayal of mental illness and its treatments: what effect does it have on
people with mental illness? CNS Drugs. 20(2):99-106. doi: 10.2165/00023210-200620020-00002.
• Tan, C, Y., Chuah, C, Q., Lee, S, T., Tan, C, S. (2021). Being Creative Makes You Happier: The
Positive Effect of Creativity on Subjective Well-Being. Int J Environ Res Public Health.
6;18(14):7244. doi:10.3390/ijerph18147244.
• Whitaker, R. (2004). The case against antipsychotic drugs: a 50-year record of doing more harm
than good. Med Hypotheses.62: 5-13.

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