Vlad Petre Glăveanu

Soila Lemmetty

Kaija Collin

Panu Forsman

Chapters 1, 6 and 8 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Contexts, Processes and Support

Creativity and Learning

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible represents a comprehensive resource for researchers and practitioners interested in an emerging multidisciplinary area within psychology and the social sciences: the study of how we engage with and cultivate the possible within self, society and culture. Far from being opposed either to the actual or the real, the possible engages with concrete facts and experiences, with the result of transforming them. This encyclopedia examines the notion of the possible and the concepts associated with it from standpoints within psychology, philosophy, sociology, neuroscience and logic, as well as multidisciplinary fields of research including anticipation studies, future studies, complexity theory and creativity research. Presenting multiple perspectives on the possible, the authors consider the distinct social, cultural and psychological processes - e.g., imagination, counterfactual thinking, wonder, play, inspiration, and many others - that define our engagement with new possibilities in domains as diverse as the arts, design and business.

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible

Izabela Lebuda

This Handbook brings together an international cast of experts to explore the social nature and context of creativity studies, focusing on methodology as a key component in advancing the social study of creativity. Two decades on from the pioneering work of Alfonso Montuori and Ronald E. Purser, the authors present a timely appraisal of past and present work in social creativity studies, and look ahead to future developments within this field. The authors collectively offer a rigorous examination of the methodological and empirical issues and techniques involved in studying social creativity. They examine the phenomenon as a form of communication and interaction within collaborative relationships; contending that creativity happens not within a vacuum but instead from a nexus of personal, social and contextual influences. This comprehensive work is organized in three parts, focusing first on the various methodological approaches applicable to the social in creativity studies. It secondly turns to empirical findings and approaches relating to the social nature of creativity. In the book’s final part, the authors offer reflections on the state of social research into creativity, pinpointing areas requiring further methodological scrutiny and empirical verification, and areas that may inspire further theoretical or applied work. Combining classic ideas with cutting-edge, emerging methods, this work provides a vital methodological ‘toolbox’ for investigators within social creativity.

The Palgrave Handbook of Social Creativity Research

This book challenges the standard view that creativity comes only from within an individual by arguing that creativity also exists ‘outside’ of the mind or more precisely, that the human mind extends through the means of action into the world. The notion of ‘distributed creativity’ is not commonly used within the literature and yet it has the potential to revolutionise the way we think about creativity, from how we define and measure it to what we can practically do to foster and develop creativity. Drawing on cultural psychology, ecological psychology and advances in cognitive science, this book offers a basic framework for the study of distributed creativity that considers three main dimensions of creative work: sociality, materiality and temporality. Starting from the premise that creativity is distributed between people, between people and objects and across time, the book reviews theories and empirical examples that help us unpack each of these dimensions and above all, articulate them into a novel and meaningful conception of creativity as a simultaneously psychological and socio-material process. The volume concludes by examining the practical implications in adopting this perspective on creativity.

Thinking Outside the Box of the Creative Individual

Distributed Creativity

Jaan Valsiner

Alex Gillespie

Despite more than half a century of psychological research on creativity we are still far from a clear understanding of the creative process, its antecedents and consequences and, most of all, the ways in which we can effectively support creativity. This is primarily due to a narrow focus on creative individuals isolated from culture and society. Rethinking Creativity proposes a fundamental review of this position and argues that creativity is not only a psychological but a sociocultural phenomenon. This edited volume aims to relocate creativity from inside individual minds to the material, symbolic and social world of culture. It brings together eminent social and cultural psychologists who study dynamic, transformative and emergent phenomena, and invites them to conceptualise creativity in ways that depart from mainstream definitions and theoretical models existing in past and present literature on the topic. Chapters include reflections on the relationship between creativity and difference, creativity as a process of symbolic transformation, the role of apprenticeships and collaboration, the importance of considering materiality and affordances in creative work, and the power of imagination to construct individual trajectories. The diverse contributions included in this book offer readers multiple pathways into the intricate relationship between mind, culture, and creativity, and invite them to rethink these phenomena in ways that foster creative action within their own life and the lives of those around them. It will be of key interest to both social and cultural psychologists, as well as to creativity researchers and those who, as part of their personal or professional life, try to understand creativity and develop creative forms of expression.

Contributions from social and cultural psychology

Rethinking Creativity

This groundbreaking Handbook brings together leading international experts in creativity and culture research to provide an overview of current debates. It showcases the wealth of topics, approaches and definitions specific for this new, interdisciplinary field within creativity research. The theoretical and methodological innovations emerging from the joint study of creativity and culture highlight the role of creativity within today's innovation-based, multicultural societies. Drawing on theoretical and empirical reflections, including case studies from different continents and different creative domains, this Handbook provides a truly global outlook on current creativity research within an emergent, interdisciplinary field. This variety is highlighted by the Handbook's structure as it is divided into five sections: Creativity and Culture in the Psychology of Creativity; Creativity in Socio-Cultural Psychology; Creativity in Cultural Context; Creativity and Culture in Applied Domains; Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Creativity and Culture. These sections provide a clear overview of the debates and questions of this research area as contributors share their interest in creativity not only as an individual but also a social and cultural phenomenon, and in culture as both the foundation and outcome of creative action. The Handbook will be an essential resource for researchers, particularly those based in social science and humanities disciplines.

The Palgrave Handbook of Creativity and Culture Research

Charlotte Wegener

Lene Tanggaard Pedersen

This book covers topics not commonly associated with creativity that offer us insight into creative action as a social, material, and cultural process. A wide range of specialists within the humanities and social sciences will find this interesting, as well as practitioners who are looking for novel ways of thinking about and doing creative work.

Vlad Petre Glăveanu

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