After the Show: The Many Faces of the Performer

"Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes.)" - Walt Whitman

Recounting his recording sessions with the young Michael Jackson, famed record producer Quincy Jones remembers that "Michael was so shy, he'd sit down and sing behind the couch with his back to me while I sat with my hands over my eyes -- and the lights off." What a contrast from his onstage extroverted, charismatic and bold performance!

In the CNN.com article "The confusing legacy of Michael Jackson," Todd Leopold discusses the perplexing combination of seemingly contradictory traits displayed by Michael Jackson. In explaining his many sides, Jackson biographer J. Randy Taraborelli essentially throws his hands up in the air in exasperation as he tries to make sense of the apparent contradictions:

I think that when you're talking about Michael Jackson and you try to analyze him, it's like analyzing electricity, you know? It exists, but you don't have a clue as to how it works.

Creativity researchers aren't so confused. They have long-ago accepted the fact that creative people are complex. Almost by definition, creativity is complex. Creative thinking is influenced by many traits, behaviors, and sociocultural factors that come together in one person. It would be surprising if all of these factors didn't sometimes, or even most of the time, appear to contradict one another.

As creativity researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi notes in his 1996 article for Psychology Today entitled "The Creative Personality," creative people "show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an "individual," each of them is a "multitude."

To me, some of the most fascinating contrasts are those found in creative performers -- those who are constantly on stage and in the public eye. Out of Csikszentmihaly's list of 10 complex personality traits of creative people, which were based on interviews with a wide variety of creative people, I think these three are the most relevant to creative performers:

Creative people have a great deal of physical energy, but they're also often quiet and at rest. They work long hours, with great concentration, while projecting an aura of freshness and enthusiasm...This does not mean that creative people are hyperactive, always "on." In fact, they rest often and sleep a lot. The important thing is that they control their energy; it's not ruled by the calendar, the dock, an external schedule. When necessary, they can focus it like a laser beam; when not, creative types immediately recharge their batteries. They consider the rhythm of activity followed by idleness or reflection very important for the success of their work.

Creative people tend to be both extroverted and introverted. We're usually one or the other, either preferring to be in the thick of crowds or sitting on the sidelines and observing the passing show. In fact, in psychological research, extroversion and introversion are considered the most stable personality traits that differentiate people from each other and that can be reliability measured. Creative individuals, on the other hand, seem to exhibit both traits simultaneously.

Creative people's openness and sensitivity often exposes them to suffering and pain, yet also to a great deal of enjoyment... Being alone at the forefront of a discipline also leaves you exposed and vulnerable.

These three seeming contradictions -- energy/rest, extroversion/introversion, and openness/sensitivity -- are not separate phenomena but are intimately related to one another and along with other traits form the core of the creative performer's personality.

All three are also linked to what Elaine Aron refers to as a highly sensitive personality (HSP). HSP's make up 15-20 percent of the general population and tend to be more aware than others of subtleties, get more easily overwhelmed when things get too intense or there is too much sensory input, are easily affected by other's moods, and are deeply creative and moved by arts and music. Some of the most creative people have very high levels of sensitivity.

A recent study illustrates this point. Psychologist Jennifer O. Grimes went to three major summer metal rock tours, including one of the largest heavy metal/hard rock festivals in the world -- "Ozzfest." Talk about extroverted performers! Grimes interviewed 21 musicians associated with signed touring acts in an isolated room backstage for approximately 20-25 minutes.

Behind the curtain, how did these hard rock musicians describe themselves? Below are some of Jennifer's impressions (for a fuller summary, see here).

Introversion / Extroversion

• All participants showed interest in physical activities but also reported requiring "alone time."

• Most participants reported "overthinking everything" and being hypercritical, exhibiting critical attention to detail and a careful method of planning everything.

• Those familiar only with the subjects' stage persona believed the subjects to be friendly, bold and approachable. The acquaintances who were able to respond to Grimes' interview questionnaire reported that the subjects were not approachable or appeared to hold a condescending view of others until one became better acquainted with the individual. Those closer to the musicians thought they were warm, friendly, calm and pleasant.

• The introverts in her sample seemed adept at using introversion and extroversion in various facades to manipulate their appearances to the various circles of friends, acquaintances and others. As Grimes puts it, musicians were adept at "juggling multiple faces" (I really like this way of phrasing it!).

• Many of Grimes's participants felt as though they were often misunderstood or perceived in a negative light, sometimes due to shyness.

Openness / Sensitivity

• The musicians in Grimes's sample reported being in the zone onstage, and being able to "tune out" external stimuli unrelated to the task. At the same time, Grimes found a lot of the musicians reported a heightened sensitivity to their surroundings and their experience of sound, lighting, scents, etc.

• All of the musicians reported some degree of unusual perceptions, especially relating to high sensory sensitivity.

• All participants described music as a means of self-expression, relating to others, and finding fulfillment. Subjects reported that listening to or creating music allowed them to recharge when overstimulated.

• Musicians reported that any amount of inhibition hindered creative production. Apparently, this was a conscious decision: artists explained how they learned to work with the process so that they did not unintentionally inhibit their creativity by blocking their own flow.

• Many of Grimes's subjects showed an appreciation of fantasy; daydreaming was commonly reported.

• Grimes concludes that it is her hope that the stereotyping about introversion will cease to pervade introversion literature without unbiased support for those claims.

So that's heavy metal rockers. Are they the only performers who show these seeming contradictions? Perhaps other extroverted performers, such as stand-up comedians, show similar complexities.

Psychologists Gil Greengross and Geoffrey Miller compared the personality traits of 31 professional stand-up comedians and nine amateur comedians against the personality traits of 10 humor writers and 400 college students. They found that the comedians (both professional and amateur) scored on average the lowest in self-reported extroversion, even lower than comedy writers!

According to the researchers:

The public perceives comedians as ostentatious and flashy. Their persona on stage is often mistakenly seen interchangeably with their real personality, and the jokes they tell about their lives are considered by many to have a grain of truth in them. However, the results of this study suggest that the opposite is true. Perhaps comedians use their performance to disguise who they are in their daily life. Comedians may portray someone they want to be, or perhaps their act is a way to defy the constraints imposed on their everyday events and interactions with others.

The evidence is clear: for a large majority of performers, in some of the most extroverted forms of performance, there is a great ability to juggle multiple faces and a need for downtime and reflection. New psychological research is showing just how intertwined and prevalent Openness to Experience, flow, abnormal perceptual experiences, and extroversion/introversion contradictions really are in creative people, especially artists. Hopefully by combining methods, such as self-reported experiences, peer reports, and more objective tests, we can shed more light on the many complexities and seeming contradictions found in creative people of many different flavors, and by so doing counter common black-and-white stereotypes about people in general.

Note: For insightful articles on the link between sensitivity and creativity, I highly recommend the Talent Development website. I also strongly recommend Susan Biali's Psychology Today article "Was Michael Jackson a Highly Sensitive Person(HSP)? Are You?".

Acknowledgment: Thanks to Jennifer O. Grimes for kindly sharing the summary of her musician interviews with me.

 

 

 

Follow Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sbkaufman

Comments

[The Notorious PDF]

07:32 AM on 03/12/2011

Thanks for the post. There are some great points with great insight, and this will actually be a great tool to help me explain certain things about myself to friends and family

[Scott Barry Kaufman]

08:25 AM on 03/25/2011

You're very welcome. By the way, love your name!

[StoryTime]

01:03 AM on 03/11/2011

I wonder if the "down time" is a way to recharge having to pretend being/playing someone else all the time...
I am a performer too and will too get more intimidated if I have to sing for two people instead of a whole concert venue but still I will be "in my element" as my mom used to say.

In the end, I truly don't know who is NOT creative...
We might be surprised...

[craftycrow]

02:47 PM on 03/10/2011

Sometimes I read articles, and in my mind I'm thinking, "Obviously." I've noticed that about creative people my whole life. I guess I need to start getting paid for my observations.

[BeBop33]

09:46 PM on 03/09/2011

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I'm schizophrenic
and so am I...

to my creative brethren and sistren - perhaps a quote from Carl Sagan may help:

"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe."

IOW, don't take yourself so seriously...

[kat momma]

03:52 PM on 03/09/2011

Elucidating article. As an editor, I have worked with many creative individuals. I hope to take Dr. Kaufman's observations to heart to help me in my work. The dialectic between extroversion and introversion is fascinating, and I think this observation could almost be diagnostic for ferreting out creative types.

[4Quarters]

02:03 PM on 03/09/2011

Great article. I can identify with all of the traits. Growing up I played 10 sports, drew, wrote poetry but could never concentrate in school. I could do the work and had the ability to focus and be detailed. Although on the creative side of the brain, I became an accountant. People assumed I was strange, weird, difficult, insightful. I am HSP, highly, to everything. It does piss me off for being so sensitive to everything around me and others.

[someone-here]

09:44 AM on 03/09/2011

Interesting article about creative traits in some category of individuals. I am not too sure that the sampling capture a wide range of creative types though.

For example, is there a creative type which have too little control of the ability to stay focussed on a given task long enough to be effective in using their creativity? Successful musician have to learn music first to be able to use creativity as leverage to create their own (and unique) music. May be they should be called high functioning creative types.

I am a scientist and I am wildly creative also. To be successful in my field you have to be able to process massive amount of complex information, dissect the facts available to you, discover what are the relevant questions that will help organize this information and finally imagine ways to test possible answers to these questions. So creative instincts have to be controlled quite well to become a useful tool in this context.

I did have a hard time in school on/off ( C student one year, top a the class the next) and I could very well not have graduated high school. Luckily, I grew up before medicating kids with hyperactive imagination was in fashion, I am not sure if I would have the same abilities if I didn't.

Thanks for the article, it was nice to learn who I should hang out with more...

[pinellas]

09:16 AM on 03/09/2011

So interesting! Thanks for this. I am a creative type who often wishes I was not so overly 'sensitive', but I guess it comes w/ the territory; I wouldn't ever want to give up my creative abilities.

[athenalong]

04:55 AM on 03/09/2011

Dr. Kaufman -

You just changed my life.

THANK YOU!

[Scott Barry Kaufman]

10:32 AM on 03/09/2011

Wow, thanks for letting me know! :) You're very welcome.

[head-out-of-sand]

06:48 PM on 03/09/2011

What about of being picky, difficulty to choose, make decision or perhaps fussiness in hygiene or eating habits?

[Max Lugavere]

03:30 AM on 03/09/2011

Fantastic article.

[Scriptease]

02:21 AM on 03/09/2011

I know I'm a HSP. Are you?

[WalkForward]

12:23 AM on 03/09/2011

Well... I guess I'm creative. Love singing,dancing, reading & writing. Also like being alone and like being with people. I also sleep like hell!

[Jeffery Trapani]

12:17 AM on 03/09/2011

I'm a curriculum designer, artist, and writer and I fit the description given almost too perfectly. Creative people are actually the opposite of ADHD. We are not pulled around by external forces- the control comes from the inside and we can resolve anxiety from within as well. ADHD is largely an anxiety disorder. There's a lot of prep work done for being creative (introvert phase)- lots of building up of diverse domain knowledge- and then we play around with it and come up with something new. The execution is what is so fun and exciting (extrovert phase) but it lasts a short while and then we need to create again. There is no big high or big low for long- but long-term contentment.

[WoodsideCraig]

11:58 PM on 03/08/2011

One thing that wasn't mentioned in the article was that creative thinking is very much non linear. Ideas just float in and associations are made out of thin air. There is no logic to it and as was mentioned, using logic has an adverse effect on creativity.

What's interesting is that the same process that works so well for creativity is nearly identical to that used for psychic ability. Look up any book on developing your psychic ability and you'll see a process that works just as well for creativity.

Psychic people are known to demonstrate creativity, often in more than one area. Likewise, creative people are generally very open to psychic ability. I think that there is a connection.

Here is a blog post on the characteristics of psychic people.
http://weilerpsiblog.wordpress.com/characteristics-of-psychic-people/

[Clare53]

05:54 PM on 03/08/2011

It's called bipolar disorder, which is rampant among creative people.

[Victoria-nola]

09:52 PM on 03/08/2011

Sorry, no it's not. You don't get it.

[Clare53]

10:28 PM on 03/08/2011

Uh, yeah, it is and many creative people do their best work when they are manic, which is one reason they don't want medications.