The Effects of Childhood on Creativity
Lyndsey Burton, Teckla Dixon, Jessica
Jewell, Melissa Fundzak
The Birth Order Test
Is the example describing:
(A) a firstborn
(B) a middle born
(C) a youngest child
(D) an only child
1.
Frankly, as a kid my sister was a charming show-off. She was a little “con” artist.
But today, she’s the top salesperson in her company and is highly successful.
2.
My brother, Al, was nicknamed Albert Einstein because he was so good in math
and science. He’s an engineer now, a conscientious perfectionist.
3.
My friend is a bit of a maverick. She has a lot of friends but values her
independence. A good mediator, she’d rather “read” people than books. She’s
just the opposite of her only sister.
4.
I’m able to get along better with older people than I do with my peers. Some
people think I’m self-centered.
5.
5. I don’t know how my husband does it; his workshop is an absolute mess, but
whenever he wants to find something, he knows exactly which pile it’s in.
Answers:
1. A, Oldest Child
2. C, Youngest Child
3. A, Oldest Child
4. B, Middle Child
5. D, Only Child
1.
Frankly, as a kid my sister was a charming show-off. She was a little
“con” artist. But today, she’s the top salesperson in her company
and is highly successful.
2.
My brother, Al, was nicknamed Albert Einstein because he was so
good in math and science. He’s an engineer now, a conscientious
perfectionist.
3.
My friend is a bit of a maverick. She has a lot of friends but values
her independence. A good mediator, she’d rather “read” people
than books. She’s just the opposite of her only sister.
4.
I’m able to get along better with older people than I do with my
peers. Some people think I’m self-centered.
5.
5. I don’t know how my husband does it; his workshop is an
absolute mess, but whenever he wants to find something, he knows
exactly which pile it’s in.
Information on Birth Order
• First Borns
• Middle Borns
• Youngest Children
• Only Children
Traits of First Borns
Perfectionist
Reliable
Conscientious
List maker
Well organized
Hard driving
Natural leader
Critical
Serious
Scholarly
Logical
Doesn’t like surprises
Loves computers
Traits of Middle Borns
Mediator
Compromising
Diplomatic
Avoids conflict
Independent
Loyal to peers
Many friends
A maverick
Secretive
Unspoiled
Traits of Youngest Children
Manipulative
Charming
Blames others
Attention seeker
Tenacious
People person
Natural salesperson
Precocious
Engaging
Affectionate
Loves surprises
Traits of Only Children
Little adult by age seven
Very thorough
Deliberate
High achiever
Self-motivated
Fearful
Cautious
Voracious reader
Black and white thinker
Uses “very,” “extremely,” and “exactly” a lot
Can’t bear to fail
Has very high expectations for self
More comfortable with people who are older or younger
The Birth Order Exercise
During Seminars, Dr. Kevin Leman asks the participants to split into the
four birth order groups, and has each group gather in one corner of the
room. He tells them to talk to each other but to remain in the circle. While
they talk, he walks around to each group and puts a large piece of paper
face down in the center of each group. It reads:
“Congratulations! You are the leader of this group. Please introduce
yourself to the others in your group, and then have each person do the
same. As you talk together, make a list of personality characteristics that
you all seem to share. Be prepared to report back to the rest of the
seminar with your ‘composite picture’ of yourselves. Please start work
immediately.”
Almost invariably, someone from the first-born and only-child groups will
pick up the paper and start working with their group. The people in the
middle group will continue to talk for a while, but eventually someone
will notice the paper, and the group will start working. The group of lastborns usually continues to talk, never noticing the paper.
Quiz on Creators
1.
Do you…
a. Study a lot and do well in school
b. Perform poorly on purpose
c. Teach yourself, because you don’t
like formal education
d. Have difficulty in school, or a learning disability
2. Which category represents your academic strengths?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Science and Math
English and Humanities
Fine Arts
Well Rounded, Strong in All Subjects
3. In terms of your family, do you feel…
a.
b.
c.
d.
Close to your immediate family members
Close to only one parent or member of your family
Closer to a nurse or governess
Alienated from all family members
4. Which of the following best describes your parents?
a. Successful in their chosen field
b. From a prominent family, does “well enough” but
not really successful
c. Working class, does “well enough” but not really
successful
d. Modestly talented in an artistic field
5. Are you…
a.
b.
c.
d.
An oldest child
A middle child
A youngest child
An only child
6. How were you exposed to your area of study?
a. Through parents
b. Through a family friend
c. Through an outside inspiration; someone you
didn’t know
7. As a child, were you…
a. More of a loner
b. Always playing with other children
8. At this point in your life, do you feel most comfortable…
a. With a group of close friends
b. With one close friend
c. With family members
Results
1. If you chose __ you are more like…
a.
b.
c.
d.
Eliot, Graham, Freud
Einstein
Gandhi, Stravinsky
Picasso
2.
a. Einstein
b. Eliot, Gandhi
c. Stravinsky, Picasso
d. Freud, Graham
3.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Freud, Eliot, Gandhi
Einstein
Stravinsky, Graham
Picasso
4.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham
Gandhi
Freud, Einstein
Picasso
5.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Graham
Stravinsky
Eliot, Gandhi
NONE!
6.
a. Eliot, Picasso, Stravinsky, Gandhi
b. Einstein, Stravinsky
c. Graham, Freud
7.
a. All Creators
b. None!
8.
a. Einstein, Freud
b. Picasso, Gandhi, Stravinsky
c. Eliot, Graham
The 7 Creators
Support, Competition,
Exposure, and Schooling While
Growing up
Sigmund Freud:
 close to his mother, father, and nurse
 desired companionship and approval
 mentors: Chacot- scholarly support;
Bruecke – scholarly support and personal loyalty;
Martha Bernays, his fiancée – shared feelings;
Eduard Siberstein - his confidant,
communication;
Wilhelm Fliess - nurture and support of Freud’s
intimate thoughts and ideas
 unsuccessful relationships with women
 Competition - very little - new domain… just
doubt, criticism, some acceptance from others
• Exposure
Was going to be a lawyer
Saw Johann Wolfgang van Goethe’s “on
nature”
Decided to study medical science as a result
• Probably the creator with the greatest
academic strengths
• At the top of his class
• Studied a lot and actually cared about his
school work
• Treated special in school because of his
intelligence
• Book smart yet well-rounded
Albert Einstein:
childlike imagination throughout life
pursued answers to difficult questions such as
relationships between space and time (theory of
relativity)
spent much of childhood playing alone and “marched
to the beat of a different drummer”
As he grew up, had a small circle of close friends –
later in life, Olympiad
internal support from religion (defied his family and
classmates)
Max Talmey - gave support and exposed Einstein to
the field of physics
girls showed interest in him
 Friends - Michelangelo Besso and wife, Mileva Maric
stimulation and critique
 Competition - other scientists like Hendrik Lorentz
were searching for an explanation to relativity, but
Einstein discovered it first (Timing!)
• Exposure:
always interested in objects
Uncle Jakob introduced him to objects
Max Talmey, family friend, gave him physics books
• Not particularly verbal
• Much more science oriented
• Disliked school and formal education
• Performed poorly and acted defiantly in class
• Learned subjects he liked (algebra, geometry)
enthusiastically on his own
• Would argue when something didn’t make sense to
him
Pablo Picasso:
depended on his father throughout adolescence
role models - strong willed mother and rich uncle
(financial support), four aunts who babied him
Although he could barely speak French, still became
close to creative artists like Max Jacob, Gertrude Stein,
Guillaume Apollinaire, Henri Matisse, and George Braque
works of Cézanne and his views into the nature of
painting influenced Picasso the most
Later in life, Picasso collaborated with Georges Braque
to invent cubism - support, cooperation, friendly
competition
competition from his sister Lola and was jealous of the
attention his parents gave her
• Exposure
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Father was a painter
Prodigy
Great artistic talent shown early in life
Surpassed dad at young age
Hated school and tried not to attend
Performed poorly
Difficulty learning to read and write
Even greater difficulty in mastering numbers
Appears to have had genuine learning problems
To him everything was in terms of art
Barely made it through school
Igor Stravinsky:
support from his governess, Bertha and his older brother,
Gury
lonely as a child, but like Einstein, had support from his
uncle, a music lover
friend Ivan Pokrovsky, who introduced him to French
composers
important friend and provided technical musical
instruction - Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
“Igor Stravinsky may be my pupil but he will never be my or
anyone else’s follower, because his gift for music is
uniquely great and original (192).” - Rimsky-Korsakov
craved for companionship - joined ensemble of musicians
competition with Diaghilev over legal rights for their
musical pieces
 Very egocentric, focused on his own needs
 As he got older, he insisted on conducting his own works without the help
of others
 “As with several of our other creators, a connection to the wider world
seems to have been purchased at the cost of smooth and loving family
relationships.” (226)
 Exposure
 Father was an opera singer
 Always had music in the house
 Was taken to opera house to write often
• Not a good student
• Performed at or below average level for his class
• Uninterested in formal schooling
• Preferred to educate himself
• Always loved music
• Not a prodigy
T. S. Eliot:
family history of being leaders in religion and education
grew up surrounded by women and much support from his
Irish nurse, Annie Dunne
very sensitive as a child and had a substantial linguistic
memory
Ezra Pound, close friend, provided literary advice and
introduced Eliot to literary individuals and women
Pound, Eliot, Wyndham Lewis, promoted new forms of English
expression
Vivien Elliot provided affective support
not comfortable with his sexual identity, didn’t know how to relate to women
Eliot was difficult to become close to, comfortable with
distance
 Like all of the other creators, severely hurt someone he was close to by
cutting off all ties
• Exposure
Mother was a talented poet
• Everything revolved around written language
• Notable student
• Performed very well at Smith Academy
• Read extremely widely and remembered a good deal of what he read
• Only area of difficulty was physics
• Little interest or ability in science
• Situated squarely within the humanities
Martha Graham:
family - secure and devoted to one another
Ma raised very strictly and religiously
volatile temper
“Maid Lizzie”- nurse, served as a peer and confident
When Martha decided to become a dancer as her
career, her family was not pleased, but they
compromised by sending her to a school where she
could study liberal arts and also dance
Lewis Horst - mentor, accompanist, composer, and lover
Exposure Saw Ruth St. Denis at L.A. Opera house
 Received criticism and support from her
performances and different dancing style: She
received support from the countless dancers who
desired to join her company and the continuing
support of her audience. Although some critics
said that she was not a true dancer, Graham had
enough support from her loyal dancers and lovers
to continue on.
• Did well in high school
• Quick learner
• Well read
• Active and involved in school
• Dancing school was most important
Mahatma Gandhi:
Family - prominent in society, very moral, father took
the guilt upon himself
family let him probe family relations and develop his
own responses toward ethical and social problems
Sheikh Mehtab - youthful friendship, they felt much remorse and guilt over their
wrong actions
determined and set in his ways
felt unfulfilled in life
friends - Sonya Schleslin and Henry L. S. Polak –
idealistic, helped Gandhi recognize his ideals in living
and sacrificed an independent existence
influential leader, support from his growing group of
followers
competition - individuals who defied him by protesting violently
felt that he had attained support, spiritual purity, and eventually moral
authority by influencing others and leading an exemplary life
•Exposure Father did not use anger or violence to punish him
 Competition - individuals who defied him by protesting violently
 Felt that he had attained support, spiritual purity, and eventually
moral authority by influencing others and leading an exemplary
life
• Exposure
Father did not use anger or violence to punish him
• Not a particularly good student
• Found school unappealing
• Always interested in issues of right and wrong
• Gravitated towards role of peacemaker
• Displayed these traits at a very young age
Additional Notes
“In carrying out this study, I have repeatedly been astounded by the speed with
which talented young individuals, like members of a rare species, immediately spot
those of their peers who are appropriate members of the same cohort (254).”
“The most notable creators almost always are perfectionists, who have worked out
every detail of their conception painstakingly and are unwilling to make further
changes unless they can be convinced that such alterations are justified (211).”
“Once again, as we saw with Einstein, Freud, Picasso, and Stravinsky, a creative
individual on the threshold of his most dramatic achievement has benefited from
close almost parent- or sibling-like ties to respected intimates (244).”
All creators were loners as children.
As each of the creators grew up, they all benefited from a connection to someone
else. Einstein and Freud benefited from a tight-nit group of friends, while Elliot and
Graham were very close to their family, and Picasso, Gandhi, and Stravinsky utilized
support from one very close friend.