Insight or effort? Communicating the creative process in arts and sciences

Artists and scientists present their creative outputs in interviews, social media messages, fund-raising competitions. The literature on the creative process identifies two different sources of creativity that can be emphasized in such communication exercises: insight – sudden, dreamlike, illuminating experiences – and effort – deliberation, planning, hard work. Although both sources of creativity are relevant within the creative process, we propose that people hold implicit theories on the associations between insight and arts, and between effort and sciences. These beliefs can influence dispositions toward and evaluations of artistic and scientific products, suggesting the existence of optimal communication strategies for artists and scientists promoting their creative outputs. Five studies provide evidence supporting the existence of implicit theories of creativity and the differential effectiveness of insight-based and effort-based presentations in artistic and scientific contexts.