CREATIVITY AS A SELF-ACTUALIZING PERSON’S CHARACTERISTIC

Abstract

The article considers creativity as a self-actualizing person’s characteristic. A self-actualizing person is characterised by integral properties that are formed during the process of the person’s self-actualization. They arise from correlations of a wide range of personality traits. The significant characteristics of a self-actualizing person are examined by psychologists working in the field of existential humanism, and different authors mentioned common features of these characteristics. The review of a self-actualizing person’s characteristics described by both foreign and national scientists showed that the universal characteristic of any self-actualizing person, mentioned by all authors, was creativity as a desire for personal growth and the creative ability. Creativity is understood as a mental process (as a synonym for creative (divergent) thinking), as an ability and as a personal characteristic. The most comprehensive understanding of self-actualization and creativity is presented in the humanistic psychological paradigm, where creative potential is considered as a natural tendency to personal balance, mental health and self-actualization. According to A. Maslow, a self-actualizing person is a person who lives a fulfilling life, who has reached personal development corresponding to realization in full of all his/her capabilities. Self-actualizing people use their abilities in full and creatively, experience life satisfaction. Creativity is a fundamental characteristic of human nature, the potential given from the birth to everyone, but most people lose this potential during familiarizing themselves with culture, and only a few are able to preserve it. Creativity does not require special talents or abilities. Creativity is a universal human function that supports all forms of self-expression. Thus, creativity within the framework of self-actualization should be considered as everyday personal creativity– no matter what people do, they do this with a certain attitude, a certain mood that follows from the very nature of their personality. For a person striving for self-actualization, creativity turns into a source of new experience and a driving force for self-development. &nbsp