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　　标题：Arecreativepeoplemorepronetopsychologicaldistressoristhe‘madgenius’amyth？
　　source：psypost丨byTHECONVERSATION
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　　Anewtheoryforwhyneuroticunhappinessandcreativityareoftenfoundinthesamepersonsuggeststhelinkresultsfromthefactthatthesamepartofthebrainisresponsibleforboth。
　　Thetheory，publishedtoday，holdsthattherearepartsofthebrainthatcontrolthenumberofspontaneousthoughtssomeonehas，andhowmuchtheydaydreamandlettheirmindswander。Peopledifferintheactivityofthesebrainregions，sotheyexperienceadifferentnumberofspontaneousthoughts。
　　Thesesamebrainregionsarealsoimportantforcontrollingthenegativityofthoughts。Somespontaneousthoughtswillthusbemorenegativeintone，turningintoanegativethinkingstyle，suchasruminationorworry。Andthesenegativethinkingstylesmakepeoplevulnerabletopsychologicaldistress。Butotherthoughtswillbemorereflectiveandimaginative，increasingthechancesofcreativeoutcomes。
　　Theideaofacommonbiologicalcausefortheassociationbetweenpsychologicaldistressandcreativityisattractive。Butistheassumptionthatcreativepeoplearemoreneuroticactuallytrue？Aretherereallymadgeniusesinourmidst？
　　Aheadacheforresearchers
　　Thatpsychologicaldistressandcreativitygohandinhandisoneofthemanycommonlayideasabouthumanpsychology。Thelinkhasbeenhighlightedinrevelationsofthepersonalbattlesofartists，writers，musiciansandotherpeoplepursingcreativeendeavours。
　　Some，suchasthestoriesofpianistDavidHelfgott（Shine，1996）andmathematicianJohnNash（ABeautifulMind，2001），haveevencapturedHollywood’simagination，fuellingtheideaofthelink。Butwhataboutscientificevidence？
　　Toinvestigate，researchershavetypicallyeithercomparedthepsychologicaldistressofpeopleincreativeandnoncreativeprofessions，orcomparedthecreativityofpeoplewithandwithoutpsychologicaldistress。
　　Unfortunately，they’veuseddifferentmethodstomeasurecreativityaswellaspsychologicaldistress。Forexample，tomeasurethelatter，studiesmayuseinterviewstodiagnosementaldisordersorquestionnairestoassesspersonalitytraitssuchasneuroticism。
　　Fromthebeginning
　　Researchonpsychologicaldistressandcreativitybeganinthe1980sandearlystudiesinthefieldhaveoftenbeencitedtosupportalink。Butmuchofthisworkhasrecentlybeencriticisedforusingsmallandspecialisedsamplesofpeopleandforalackofscientificallyrigorousmethodology。
　　Criticismshavealsobeenlevelledatthefieldofmadgeniusresearchasawhole。Theuseofdifferentmeasuresofpsychologicaldistressandcreativityindifferentstudies，forinstance，makesitdifficulttocomparestudiesandgetafullerpicture。
　　Ithasbeensuggestedthatthisinconsistencyofmeasureshascontributedtocontradictoryfindings。Neuroticismhasbeenshowntobelinkedtocreativityinonestudy，forinstance，butnotinanotherthatusedadifferentmeasureofcreativity。
　　Indeed，thewholefieldhasbeencriticisedfortheabsenceofagoodmeasureforcreativity，andforusingdubiousmethodstoassesspsychologicaldistress。Buttheabsenceofqualityevidenceofalinkisnotevidencefortheabsenceofthatlink。
　　Somerelief
　　Recently，therehavebeensomeattemptstolookattheliteratureonpsychologicaldistressandcreativityasawholetotrytofindpatternsacrossstudies（grantedthecriticismsnotedabove）。
　　Onecriticalreviewpaper，forinstance，suggestedanassociationbetweenbipolardisorderandcreativity。Anothersuggestedcreativityislinkedwithbipolardisorderaswellasschizotypy（apersonalitytraitrelatedtoschizophrenia）。
　　Notably，theseresearchpapersareonlyqualitativereviews。Theysummarisepatternsofassociationsbutthesizeofassociationsthey’vefound（betweenbipolardisorderandcreativity，forinstance）arenotestimated。
　　Quantitativereviewssuchasmetaanalysescanestimatethesizeofsuchassociationsbecausethey’rebasedonmultiplestudies。Andonemetaanalysishasshownneuroticismisonlytriviallyassociatedwithcreativity。Sadly，suchmetaanalysesaregenerallylackinginthefield。
　　Ushapedyou
　　Thegoodnewsisthatlargescalestudieswithmorerigorousmethodologyhaverecentlystartedtobeundertaken。One2011study，forinstance，foundthatpeoplewithbipolardisorderweremorelikelytoworkincreativeoccupationsscientificorartisticthanpeoplewithoutthedisorder。Andthosewithschizophreniaweresimilarlyfoundtobemorelikelytoworkinanartisticoccupation。
　　Anotherlargestudyin2013foundagreaterlikelihoodofbipolardisorderamongpeopleincreativeprofessionscomparedtomatchedgroups。Butpeopleincreativeprofessionswerenotmorelikelytobediagnosedwithotherdisorders，suchasschizophrenia，depressionandanxietydisorders。
　　Researcherscontendthatoneofthemoreconsistentfindingsinthefieldisthatpeoplewithasmalldoseofpsychologicaldistressmightactuallybemorecreativethanpeoplewithoutpsychologicaldistressandpeoplewithextremelevelsofsuchdistress。ThishasbeenbeendescribedasaUshapedrelationship。
　　Asyou’veprobablyguessedbynow，thestateofthisfieldofpsychologicalresearchmakesitdifficulttoprovideadefinitiveanswertothequestionofwhethertherereallyisalinkbetweenpsychologicaldistressandcreativity。Allwecansayfornowisthatthemorerecentresearchsuggestsalinkbetweencreativityandcertainformsofpsychologicaldistresspossiblyinsmalldoses。
　　TheConversation
　　QuincyWongisNHMRCEarlyCareerFellow（Psychology）