Componential Theory of Creativity

Fundamentals

Creativity is the production of a novel and appropriate response, product, or solution to an open-ended task. Although the response must be new, it cannot be merely different; the nonsensical speech of a schizophrenic may be novel, but few would consider it creative. Thus, the response must also be appropriate to the task to be completed or the problem to be solved; that is, it must be valuable, correct, feasible, or somehow fitting to a particular goal. Moreover, the task must be open-ended (heuristic), rather than having a single, obvious solution (purely algorithmic). Ultimately, a response or product is creative to the extent that it is seen as creative by people familiar with the domain in which it was produced.

The componential theory of creativity was articulated by Teresa Amabile in 1983. A theory designed to be comprehensively useful for both psychological and organizational creativity research, it describes the creative process and the various influences on the process and its outcomes. Two important assumptions underlie the theory. First, there is a continuum from low, ordinary levels of creativity found in everyday life to the highest levels of creativity found in historically significant inventions, performances, scientific discoveries, and works of art. The second, related underlying assumption is that there are degrees of creativity in the work of any single individual, even within one domain. The level of creativity that a person produces at any given point in time is a function of the creativity components operating, at that time, within and around that person.