This study tested relationships between 10 family environmental factors (cohesion and sense of support, encouragement to self-express, disharmony, encouragement toward independence, pressure to achieve, intellectual-cultural interests, active-recreational pursuits, need to plan tasks, rules and regulations, and concordance by family members on the presence of these factors) and four types of creativity (figural, semantic, symbolic, social) in 25 families where one parent or child was known to be highly creative, using independent ratings of creative productivity and achievement. Children younger than 10 or older than 22 were excluded, as were adults not specifically involved in parenting, thus leaving 92 study participants.
All but one of the social climate factors significantly associated with one or more types of creativity in one or more of the groupings used (all, fathers, mothers, children). Encouragement toward independence was not significant.
Family environmental factors positively associated with creativity were (a) degree of commitment, help, and support members provided each other, (b) extent parents felt members were encouraged to act openly and express feelings directly, (c) degree children perceived openly expressed hostility and anger, (d) extent fathers and daughters perceived member participation in social and recreational activities, and (e) difference in members' reports about their family's environment. The more family members were found to be creative, the more these traits were present.
The factor negatively associated with creativity was the degree families had cast work, school, and recreational activities into an achievement oriented and competitive framework.
Factors with mixed associations were (a) the importance clear structure and organization had in planning family activities, and (b) need for set rules and procedures to run family life. Subgroup differences in these two factors might underscore the developmental nature of creative potential, the differential nature of creativity, and the effect status, age, gender, and experience has on perception.
Conclusions about the role families play in fostering and inhibiting creative achievement are made, and implications for future research are drawn.
