Eighteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

The study of creativity of young people and its role as a component of their psychological development is presented. Specifically, the research investigates the role of creativity as a possible natural protective and prophylactic outlet for addressing mental “disorders” of adolescents, like anxiety or depression. Hermeneutic phenomenology /ontology linked with the narrative/biography methodology was chosen for this qualitative research. As a process of interpretation of the data, we create conceptual models called pattern models of the process of creativity of young people by applying the concepts of complexity science, especially self-organization with Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration. The Theory of Positive Disintegration is especially useful for understanding the tumultuous psychological development of gifted and creative adolescents. Dabrowski stresses the importance of “emotional turbulence” in the process of human growth, which corresponds to Prigogine’s idea that “non-equilibrium is a source of order.” In general, the creativity of young people could be modeled as “self-organizing dissipative structures” that originate spontaneously in far-from-equilibrium created and maintained by their complex emotions/dynamisms like love, curiosity, enthusiasm, delight, resourcefulness, “subject-object” in oneself, and a third factor. These emotions are the driving forces generating order and complexity not only in their creativity but above all in their psychological development, which is characterized by lesser tension, and greater ability to integrate their experiences, take the development into their own hands, and find direction to their future.