Foundations of Indian Psychology, Volume 1

22

Cultural Construction of Creativity: Dualism and Beyond

Minati Panda

Research on creativity in mainstream psychology is inescapably rooted in the philosophical and cultural orientation of individualism. This made ‘autonomy’ a desirable trait and counter-posed it with dependence. In fact, dependency and conformity were viewed as negative traits constraining one's freedom, which is at the base of any creative act/behaviour (Montuori & Purser, 1995; Purser & Montuori, 2004). Thus, in the study of creativity, the creative individual is often the focus (Sternberg, 1988). The claims that it is ultimately the individuals themselves who are creative, and that, membership in a group is, more often than not, a hindrance to creativity characterized ...