The need to belong to a social group is one of the fundamental motivations in the human being. When people are socially rejected, they go to great lengths to adapt and revert to social approval in order to preserve their self-esteem. Social rejection also has important consequences on well-being, happiness, and intelligence.
At the same time, the need for uniqueness is also a fundamental human motive. When people are treated similarly to others, they (sometimes unconsciously) try to do anything to stand out. For example, people who feel their uniqueness threatened are more likely to express less popular attitudes.
How can this be? How can human beings have both the need for belonging and the need for uniqueness? As well, Human beings are complicated! We have many motivations, some of which are contradictory to each other. This is why most people try to find a balance between their various motivations.
However, that human being's inclination towards uniqueness it can have implications for people's creativity.
By definition, creative solutions are unusual and involve the recombination of ideas. Unusual and divergent ideas are the hallmarks of creative thinking. Those who like to distance themselves from others are more likely to distance themselves from conventional ideas and have more unusual thoughts.
Research supports this idea. The need to be seen as separate from others enhances creativity. People who most report a high need for uniqueness show a greater preference for complex visual figures and produce more creative drawings and stories.
This raises an interesting idea: People with a high need for uniqueness may be less sensitive to social rejection. Maybe even social rejection is the fuel for your creativity! In fact, some of the most creative minds of all time have faced very high levels of rejection and social isolation.
In one study, 2 groups of people were formed: one group was explicitly rejected to take part in a game. The other group were told that they would join the game after completing some tasks. Afterwards, both the accepted and rejected groups were given 7 minutes to complete a test that measures creativity to relate some words that are not related to each other.
The study found that social rejection leads to greater creativity. In addition, those who were rejected reported a greater need for uniqueness, obtaining the best results in the creativity test.
All these results suggest that the real experience of rejection can promote creativity in those people whose feelings of independence prevail over those of belonging to a group.
Let's be clear: rejection is not pleasant, even if it encourages creativity. That is why it is important to investigate other environmental factors that can simulate the experience of rejection without the person going through such a painful experience. Fortunately, there is very recent research showing similar effects of divergent thinking in those who study abroad and find it difficult to function in a different cultural environment.
Feeling different can be an advantage. As the researchers point out, "For socially rejected people, creativity can be the best revenge."
How good is this 🙂
As a result of the rejection and the needs to be taken into account, a motivation to get ahead is awakened much stronger than usual; to the point that we end up performing tasks that perhaps in the past we did not think to do, obviously all this can be possible with a correct management of our emotions and in this case the rejection that is usually difficult to handle and especially for weak minds. A particular saying that I have and have experienced is that "The Need Awakens Creativity" ... I have understood that the best ideas arise in our most difficult moments and when we find ourselves in tunnels of darkness is where we invent the best alternatives to meet the light or the lights that take us out of said tunnel ... There is nothing better than the originality and authenticity of each person as an individual because it is there where we can better hear the voice of our higher Self that speaks to us from within and always invites us to grow and improve in all our aspects and senses because if we decide to choose to listen to all external voices and omit our own evolutionary voice we will end up confused and instead of being able to work and walk our own path to success and true happiness, then the path it will be much more difficult for us than it really can be ... Good advice will always be useful to us but nothing and nothing ie it should overshadow our own creativity or our own path towards our constant personal fulfillment ...