Culture's influence on creativity: the case of Indian spirituality

Abstract

In this paper, I posit that people strive to excel in areas that are compatible with their cultural values. Since spirituality is valued in the Indian culture, it is argued that creative geniuses are readily channeled in this field of human endeavor. A historical analysis followed by a case-analytic approach using three cases is applied to examine the thesis. By building on existing theoretical frameworks, a general model of culture and creativity is presented in which culture, Zeitgeist, and genius are postulated to have reciprocal relationships in shaping creative behaviors. The paper also points out how some of the current culture theories are unable to explain this process. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.