Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010, Page 19
questions is a primary way that creativity is manifest. Because questioning is forbidden in
cults, I suggest that divergent problem finding is greatly challenged. A recent Newsweek
article discusses the work of creativity researcher Mark Runco, stating, ―the inability to
conceive of alternative approaches [via divergent thinking] … leads to despair‖ he
considers the ―alternation between divergent and convergent thinking‖ as intrinsic to
―original and useful ideas, the very definition of creativity‖ (Bronson and Merryman, 2010).
In this section, I examine psychological creativity stage models to consider which might
support creative functioning in a cult, and which stages might present potential obstacles.
Particularly relevant to our theme are those stages of creativity that describe combinatory
processes since cultic thinking, language, and practice are characterized by rigidity and lack
of flow. A section is fully devoted to combinatory processes below.
A key cognitive capability is combining disparate elements to create meaning, such as
through metaphor or analogy. Wallas‘ (1926) four-step model of the creative process, is
considered a standard and includes preparation (―detecting a problem and gathering data‖),
incubation (―stepping away from the problem for a period of time‖), illumination (―a new
idea or solution emerges, often unexpectedly‖), and verification (―the new idea or solution is
examined or tested‖) (Treffinger, et al., 2002, p. 34). I will discuss the stages relevant to
potential stifling of feeling and thought in cults. When applying these concepts about
creativity to cults, it is important to remember that ongoing research from the 1950s to the
present continues to conclude that 1) the definition of creativity is multifaceted and cannot
be comprehensively measured 2) some areas of creativity such as marketing or business
are easier to quantitatively study than others such as poetry or dance 3) cults vary in
general according to severity of harm inflicted and specifically regarding creativity and 4)
individual differences regarding creativity, including pre-cult experience and self-identity,
exist within the cultic environment.
Wallas‘ stages are elaborated upon as follows:
1. Preparation—becoming immersed in problematic issues that are interesting and
arouse curiosity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996, p. 79).
Regarding preparation, Sawyer notes that ―without first learning what‘s already been
done, a person doesn‘t have the raw material to create with‖ (2006, p. 59). In cults,
access to information and knowledge is controlled. A member who was a student of a
particular artistic domain before the cult may come with such background, but the
cult leader might at any time require this member to work in a domain she knows
nothing about.
2. Incubation—ideas churn around below the threshold of consciousness
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1996, p. 79).
States Sawyer (2006) ―…[M]ost creativity researchers (cognitive and social
psychologists) think that the incubation stage is guided in some way by conceptual
structures, by association networks, or by unconscious processes of evaluation‖ (p.
94). It is this stage that represents the mental capability of combining and
recombining to form symbols as communicators of feeling, per Langer and the
others. One must only think of the best poets, and our own flashes of humor and
poetic thought, to value this aspect of our brain functioning.
Sawyer (2006, pp. 60-61) quotes William James in describing the unconscious
experience of the Incubation stage:
Instead of thoughts or concrete things patiently following one another
...we have the most abrupt cross-cuts and transitions from one idea
to another ...the most unheard-of combinations of elements, the
questions is a primary way that creativity is manifest. Because questioning is forbidden in
cults, I suggest that divergent problem finding is greatly challenged. A recent Newsweek
article discusses the work of creativity researcher Mark Runco, stating, ―the inability to
conceive of alternative approaches [via divergent thinking] … leads to despair‖ he
considers the ―alternation between divergent and convergent thinking‖ as intrinsic to
―original and useful ideas, the very definition of creativity‖ (Bronson and Merryman, 2010).
In this section, I examine psychological creativity stage models to consider which might
support creative functioning in a cult, and which stages might present potential obstacles.
Particularly relevant to our theme are those stages of creativity that describe combinatory
processes since cultic thinking, language, and practice are characterized by rigidity and lack
of flow. A section is fully devoted to combinatory processes below.
A key cognitive capability is combining disparate elements to create meaning, such as
through metaphor or analogy. Wallas‘ (1926) four-step model of the creative process, is
considered a standard and includes preparation (―detecting a problem and gathering data‖),
incubation (―stepping away from the problem for a period of time‖), illumination (―a new
idea or solution emerges, often unexpectedly‖), and verification (―the new idea or solution is
examined or tested‖) (Treffinger, et al., 2002, p. 34). I will discuss the stages relevant to
potential stifling of feeling and thought in cults. When applying these concepts about
creativity to cults, it is important to remember that ongoing research from the 1950s to the
present continues to conclude that 1) the definition of creativity is multifaceted and cannot
be comprehensively measured 2) some areas of creativity such as marketing or business
are easier to quantitatively study than others such as poetry or dance 3) cults vary in
general according to severity of harm inflicted and specifically regarding creativity and 4)
individual differences regarding creativity, including pre-cult experience and self-identity,
exist within the cultic environment.
Wallas‘ stages are elaborated upon as follows:
1. Preparation—becoming immersed in problematic issues that are interesting and
arouse curiosity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996, p. 79).
Regarding preparation, Sawyer notes that ―without first learning what‘s already been
done, a person doesn‘t have the raw material to create with‖ (2006, p. 59). In cults,
access to information and knowledge is controlled. A member who was a student of a
particular artistic domain before the cult may come with such background, but the
cult leader might at any time require this member to work in a domain she knows
nothing about.
2. Incubation—ideas churn around below the threshold of consciousness
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1996, p. 79).
States Sawyer (2006) ―…[M]ost creativity researchers (cognitive and social
psychologists) think that the incubation stage is guided in some way by conceptual
structures, by association networks, or by unconscious processes of evaluation‖ (p.
94). It is this stage that represents the mental capability of combining and
recombining to form symbols as communicators of feeling, per Langer and the
others. One must only think of the best poets, and our own flashes of humor and
poetic thought, to value this aspect of our brain functioning.
Sawyer (2006, pp. 60-61) quotes William James in describing the unconscious
experience of the Incubation stage:
Instead of thoughts or concrete things patiently following one another
...we have the most abrupt cross-cuts and transitions from one idea
to another ...the most unheard-of combinations of elements, the
