Nov 16, 2015 12:09 PM EST
Research Unveils 5 Characteristics of Highly Creative People

The creativity of a person's hands is rooted from his brain. What's in Picasso's brain and how he thinks might forever remain a mystery but through previous studies, scientists obtained an increase understanding of what happens inside the mind of a highly creative person. With the results from these studies, hypotheses were formed regarding their practices that shaped them to be more than ordinary.

They hunger for experiences. According to Scott Barry Kauffman, psychologist at New York University, A highly creative person is open for experiences. Having a mind open to experiences involves intellectual curiosity, reasoning, imagination and problem solving skills. "Openness to experience is consistently the strongest predictor of creative achievement. This consists of lots of different facets, but they're all related to each other: Intellectual curiosity, thrill seeking, openness to your emotions, and openness to fantasy. The thing that brings them all together is a drive for cognitive and behavioral exploration of the world, your inner world and your outer world," Kauffman stated.

They are too observant. Studies conducted by researchers from the University of Amsterdam and led by psychological scientist Matthijs Baas found the connection between creativity and observing skills. The results from two studies showed that a person who possess great observation skills is more creative than other people. 

They ask challenging questions. Jeff Goins, in his websites, Goinswriters .com stated, "Creatives are curious about everything. They test boundaries, not to be rebellious, but to simply explore - to understand, to learn." Goins explained how sometimes creative people ask questions that could be viewed as opposition to many ideals that most people believe. However he believes that they don't intend to be antagonist, but sincere to know the reason for everything.

They daydream. On a study conducted by a neuroscientist, it was found that when a person's mind wanders, creativity is more used and shown.  Jonah Lehrer, author of Imagine: How Creativity Works said, "It's not an accident that Arthur Fry was daydreaming when he came up with the idea for a sticky bookmark. A more disciplined thought process wouldn't have made the connection between the annoying little pieces of paper he used to bookmark his choir music and a weak adhesive another 3M engineer had developed. The errant daydream is what made Post-it notes possible."

They are not scared to take risks. Highly creative people are not afraid to go out of their comfort zones. Aside from welcoming every opportunity to gain experiences, they are also not afraid to fail and to take chances. They follow their passions and develop their skills. "Eminent creators choose and become passionately involved in challenging, risky problems that provide a powerful sense of power from the ability to use their talents, "published in The Handbook of Creativity.

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