#emotional creativity

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Emotional Creativity

Averill and Thomas-Knowles (1991) theorized that emotionally creative people have the following seven major characteristics in comparison with the less emotionally creative: (1) they are better at integrating their emotions and expressing them symbolically (e.g., going out for a pounding run in the rain after a day of frustrations at work); (2) they have more complex appraisals and don’t jump to conclusions (e.g., a man who flicks about between anger, anxiety, calm and envy as he sees his highly successful, competitive brother); (3) they are very concerned to explore the meaning of their emotions; (4) they are thoughtful about other people’s feelings (and behaviour); (5) they are less bound by standards and more tolerant of conflicting traits (e.g., being accepting if and when your friend’s feelings, say of pleasure at his father’s death, go against society’s standards); (6) they experience less prototypical features of standard emotions (e.g., feeling serene rather than angry when slighted); (7) they find challenging what others find threatening.