Is there a creative personality type? Creative and bipolar individuals share the personality traits of high neuroticism and openness to experience (based on the revised NEO Personality Inventory). Schizotypy (a form of personality disorder) is characterized by four factors: unusual experiences, cognitive disorganization, introvertive anhedonia, and impulsive nonconformity. Poets and visual artists score high on unusual experiences and low on introvertive anhedonia, similar to bipolar patients, whereas mathematicians score low on unusual experiences and high on introvertive anhedonia. A high level of both positive schizotypy (unusual experiences) and negative schizotypy (introvertive anhedonia) predisposes to mental illness, whereas a high level of positive schizotypy with a low level of negative schizotypy may promote creativity (J. Res. Person. 2006;40:876-90).
Dopaminergic agonists, which are typically used in the setting of Parkinson’s disease, can sometimes enhance reward-driven behavior to the point of pathological gambling and sexual activity, but is not specifically associated with more successful creative efforts. Dopamine antagonists reduce psychosis and agitation, and with such normalization other behaviors may be restored, although dopaminergic blockade itself is associated with reduced motivation and spontaneity and so is also not conducive to creative behavior (Can. J. Psychiatry 2011;56:132-43). Just as some personality traits appear to overlap creativity and psychopathology, one possible way of explaining the relationship between the two is that of a shared vulnerability model (Can. J. Psychiatry 2011;56:144-53). Reduced latent inhibition (LI), which is the ability to screen out previous experiences from current awareness as irrelevant, as well as novelty seeking and neural hyperconnectivity, all promote creative thought and are all associated with mental illness. (LI and hyperconnectivity are associated with schizophrenia; novelty seeking is associated with substance abuse as well as mania.) High levels of intelligence, working memory, and cognitive flexibility all promote creativity and protect against mental illness, and allow such individuals to better cope with the higher-risk traits. This might explain the observation that families of geniuses also contain mentally ill members at a higher-than-normal rate consistent with the hypothesis that there may be common substrates shared by the two (J. Psychiatr. Res. 2005;39:623-31).
In a recent interview with Bruce Springsteen in which the artist discussed his challenges with depression, David Remnick, editor-in-chief of the New Yorker, wrote, "As Springsteen sees it, the creative talent has always been nurtured by the darker currents of his psyche" (New Yorker 2012 July 30). Quoting Springsteen, he wrote that "you cannot underestimate the fine power of self-loathing in all of this. You think, I don’t like anything I’m seeing, I don’t like anything I’m doing, but I need to change myself, I need to transform myself. I do not know a single artist who does not run on that fuel. ... That’s a motivation, that element of ‘I need to remake myself, my town, my audience’ – the desire for renewal." Clearly, the psychic pain of mental illness can be a source of inspiration that promotes creative efforts, and it may be that this, too, is a reflection of the shared vulnerability model.
But there are two motivational poles: a positive pole (appetite, reward, approach) and a negative one (aversion, fear, avoidance). Either pole can and does serve to drive us towards creative goals. The driving force for creativity – the motivational voltage that derives from the difference in perceived reward value between what is and what should be – means that, in a way, we must be in a constant state of dissatisfaction. Maximum reward value means exceeding our expectations, which by definition cannot happen frequently. Perhaps our creative wiring comes with the cost of predisposing us to depression (resulting from dissatisfaction with the status quo) and schizophrenia (envisioning what does not yet exist to the point of perceptual hallucinatory phenomena).
This raises another intriguing question: Are the greatest creative works driven primarily by this darker side (the need to alleviate an inner pain), or is the positive pole (appetite, reward, approach) just as likely as the negative pole to end in great achievement? The Rolling Stones, for example, produced their most memorable work – expressing their inner demons and finding resolution – early in their career, once they mastered the technical and procedural details of their trade. (Compare, for example their earlier songs, "Sympathy for the Devil" or "You Can’t Always get What You Want" vs. a popular song from their last album, "Rough Justice.") However, once they achieved popular acclaim and wealth, they learned that modeling themselves can be rewarding and they seem (to this fan at least) to be less driven now by alleviating an inner pain than by pursuing financial gain.