Adams-Price and Morse offer a wonderfully comprehensive overview of the benefits of creativity for older adults. In this commentary, we expand on a topic they briefly mention: the idea of leaving a creative legacy. We briefly explore research on meaning in older adults, then discuss Rank and Lifton’s ideas about symbolic immortality and the desire to leave behind a legacy. Creative works are on pathway, but we emphasize that it is not only Big-C contributions that qualify. Mini-c and little-c creativity can leave meaningful legacies for family, friends, and one’s community.
Adams-PriceC. E.MorseL. W. (2018). Crafts as serious hobbies: Impact and benefits in later life. Craft Research, 9(1), 93–102. https://doi.org/10.1386/crre.9.1.93_1
2.
Adams-PriceC. E.MorseL. W. (2024). Creativity, aging, context and culture: Reimagining creativity in everyday life in older adults. Possibility Studies & Society, 3(4), 499–523.
3.
AmabileT. M.PrattM. G. (2016). The dynamic componential model of creativity and innovation in organizations: Making progress, making meaning. Research in Organizational Behavior, 36, 157–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2016.10.001
4.
BenedekM.KarstendiekM.CehS. M.GrabnerR. H.KrammerG.LebudaI.SilviaP. J.CottK. N.LiY.HuW.MartskvishviliK.KaufmanJ. C. (2021). Creativity myths: Prevalence and correlates of misconceptions on creativity. Personality and Individual Differences, 182, 111068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111068
5.
DumasD.KaufmanJ. C. (2024). Evaluation is creation: Self and social judgments of creativity across the Four-C model. Educational Psychology Review, 36(3), 107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09947-1
6.
EriksonE. H. (1974). Dimensions of a new identity. W. W. Norton & Company.
7.
EriksonE. H. (1982). The life cycle completed. W. W. Norton & Company.
ForgeardM. (2024). Prosocial motivation and creativity in the arts and sciences: Qualitative and quantitative evidence. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 18(2), 222–244. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/aca0000435
10.
GeorgeL. S.ParkC. L. (2016). Meaning in life as comprehension, purpose, and mattering: Toward integration and new research questions. Review of General Psychology, 20(3), 205–220. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000077
11.
GlăveanuV. P. (2012). Habitual creativity: Revising habit, reconceptualizing creativity. Review of General Psychology, 16(1), 78–92. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026611
12.
GlăveanuV. P. (2013). Rewriting the language of creativity: The Five A’s framework. Review of General Psychology, 17(1), 69–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029528
HennesseyB. A. (2019). Motivation and creativity. In KaufmanJ. C.SternbergR. J. (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of creativity (2nd ed., pp. 374–395). Cambridge University Press.
15.
HolingerM.KaufmanJ. C. (2023). Everyday creativity as a pathway to meaning and well-being. In IvcevicZ.HoffmannJ. D.KaufmanJ. C. (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of creativity and emotion (pp. 394–410). Cambridge University Press.
16.
HolingerM.KaufmanJ. C. (2024). Measuring self-beliefs of creativity and well-being. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 53, 101604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101604
17.
KarwowskiM.CzerwonkaM.LebudaI.JankowskaD. M.GajdaA. (2020). Does thinking about Einstein make people entity theorists? Examining the malleability of creative mindsets. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 14(3), 361–366. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/aca0000226
18.
KaufmanJ. C. (2023). The creativity advantage. Cambridge University Press.
19.
KaufmanJ. C. (2024). Dancing on an empty shore: Symbolic immortality, meaning, and being creative as doomsday approaches. Manuscript under review.
20.
KaufmanJ. C.BeghettoR. A. (2009). Beyond big and little: The four c model of creativity. Review of General Psychology, 13(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013688
21.
KaufmanJ. C.BeghettoR. A. (2023). Where is the when of creativity?: Specifying the temporal dimension of the four Cs of creativity. Review of General Psychology, 27(2), 194–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/10892680221142803
LiftonR. J. (1979). The broken connection. Simon & Schuster.
24.
LiftonR. J. (2011). Witness to an extreme century: A memoir. Free Press.
25.
LiftonR. J.OlsonE. (2004). Symbolic immortality. In RobbenA. C. G. M. (Ed.), Death, mourning, and burial: A cross-cultural reader (pp. 32–39). Blackwell. (Original work published 1974)
26.
MartelaF.StegerM. F. (2016). The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(5), 531–545. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2022.2070528
27.
NellerS. A.CloyesK. G.EdelmanL. S.WongB.BainesB.TowsleyG. L. (2023). Preparing for the future while living in the present: Older adults’ experiences creating a legacy of values. The Gerontologist, 63(9), 1488–1496. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad019
28.
NewtonN. J.ChauhanP. K.PatesJ. L. (2020). Facing the future: Generativity, stagnation, intended legacies, and well-being in later life. Journal of Adult Development, 27(1), 70–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-019-09330-3
29.
RankO. (1989). Art and artist: Creative urge and personality development (AtkinsonC. F., Trans.). Knopf. (Original work published 1932)
30.
ReichstadtJ.SenguptaG.DeppC. A.PalinkasL. A.JesteD. V. (2010). Older adults’ perspectives on successful aging: Qualitative interviews. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18(7), 567–575. https://doi.org/10.1097/JGP.0b013e3181e040bb
31.
RekerG. T. (2001). Prospective predictors of successful aging in community-residing and institutionalized Canadian elderly. Ageing International, 27(1), 42–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-001-1015-4
32.
RekerG. T.WongP. T. (2012). Personal meaning in life and psychosocial adaptation in the later years. In WongP. T. (Ed.), The human quest for meaning: Theories, research, and applications (pp. 433–456). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
33.
RekerG. T.WooL. C. (2011). Personal meaning orientations and psychosocial adaptation in older adults. Sage Open, 1(1), 2158244011405217. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244011405217
34.
SimontonD. K. (2000). Creative development as acquired expertise: Theoretical issues and an empirical test. Developmental Review, 20(2), 283–318. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.1999.0504
