One “C” to Rule Them All: The Psychology of Creativity Needs to Refocus on Behaviors

Abstract

The 7C's of creativity (Lubart, 2017) summarize scientific contributions in seven categories as a function of their main object of interest in relation to creativity: Creators, Creating, Collaboration, Context, Creations, Consumption, and Curricula. In its attempt to grasp these different dimensions of the phenomenon of creativity, the psychology of creativity seems to have lost sight of its main object of interest: creative human behavior. This contribution constitutes a short plea to restore “Creating” (i.e., the creative behavior), to its central place in the psychology of creativity. Indeed, the study of the C's of creativity only makes sense in the articulation with the “why” and the “how” of creative behavior. This means focusing on behavioral measures, or at least explicitly considering a direct link between the variables under study and actual creative behaviors. Not all C's are equal, and “Creating” should be the main phenomenon of interest for the discipline. This proposition echoes the various calls to refocus on the study of behavior and behavioral measures in psychology. Research in the field of the psychology of creativity, and especially in the Journal of Creative Behavior, cannot ignore the need to focus on creative behavior.