Investigation of the relationship between narcissism and creative ideas

In the literature, the number of studies investigating the relationship between creative ideas and narcissism, which calls for the age according to some researchers (Twenge and Campbell, 2015) is very few (Masterson, 2010, Goncalo, Flynn and Kim, 2010). In addition, it is not known which cognitive or motivational mechanism played a role between narcissism and creativity. In this thesis, the relation of narcissism with creativity by a means of correlative and experimental research. In the first research conducted with the correlational method, the relationship between the narcissism scores and the number of uses of tea cups was investigated. The data were collected from Faculty of Education, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Education in Abant Izzet Baysal University. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory and the Object Use Test were used for data collection. A total of 264 university students studying at different universities participated in the study. A positive but weak relationship between narcissism and original, flexible and deep ideas was found. Flexibility and deep ideas played a full mediator role between narcissism and unique ideas (creativity). In addition, self-sufficiency, which is the sub-dimension of narcissism, was found to increase creativity through flexibility. Narcissism was manipulated in the second study that used experimental method. In this study, in the narcissism condition, participants read narcissism descriptions from the literature and assumed themselves in this person's place. They were then asked to write their own feelings and thoughts about the description. After this task, they were asked to read the adjective lists related to narcissism and to make associations coming from the adjectives. The participants in the control condition, after reading a text about the description of a normal person, made associations of adjectives related to a normal individual. After this manipulation, the participants' self-esteem perception, appreciation and interest were measured. Then they produced different uses of tea plate for 5 minutes. The participants in the narcissism condition generated more unique and flexible ideas than those in the control condition. In addition, flexibility played a full mediator between these variables. These manipulations also changed the perception of self-esteem, appreciation and point of interest. On the other hand, there was no evidence that these manipulations affected emotions. These findings, which emerged for the first time in the literature, were discussed in light of the relevant theories and the implications of these results in education, organizations and therapy settings were discussed. Keywords: Narcissism, Creativity, Creative Thinking