See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/261797914

When Your Race Is Almost Run, but You Feel You're Not Yet Done: Application
of the Propulsion Theory of Creative Contributions to Late-career Challenges

Article  in  The Journal of creative behavior · March 2012

DOI: 10.1002/jocb.005

CITATIONS READS

15 200

2 authors:

Robert Sternberg James C. Kaufman

Oklahoma State University - Stillwater University of Connecticut
267 PUBLICATIONS   26,566 CITATIONS    429 PUBLICATIONS   14,779 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Creativity and Domains View project

Creativity Theory View project

All content following this page was uploaded by James C. Kaufman on 28 September 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 ROBERT J. STERNBERG
JAMES C. KAUFMAN

When Your Race Is Almost Run, but You Feel

You’re Not Yet Done: Application of the
Propulsion Theory of Creative Contributions to
Late-career Challenges

ABSTRACT
The propulsion theory of creative contributions is a theory that focuses on
how a creative act or product builds on and adds to knowledge in various fields.
In this article, we apply the propulsion theory of creative contributions not to
creative discoveries or inventions, but rather to late-career decisions about future
directions in which one can steer one’s career. We consider eight different kinds
of career decisions one can make—replication, redefinition, forward incrementa-
tion, advance forward incrementation, redirection, reconstruction/redirection,
reinitiation, and synthesis. Each offers a viable option for closing out a creative
career.
Keywords: forward incrementation, propulsion theory, redefinition, redirection,
replication.

There is nothing more exhilarating than realizing that you are close to the finish
line of a race—unless it is your last race and you really like to run. That is the feel-
ing many creative individuals have as they approach the end of their creative career,
and vaguely feel that whatever it was they set out to accomplish, they didn’t quite
accomplish it.
When RJS was an assistant professor starting his career, he thought that the
hardest point of a career is the beginning—when you are making your early
contributions and seeking recognition for them. He envied those who were senior
faculty whose reputations were already established and wondered how one could
get from where he was to where they were. Now, as a full professor, he believes
that later-career issues are at least as challenging as early-career ones and perhaps
more so.
Simonton (1974, 1975, 1988, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2009) has written extensively on
the trajectories of creative careers. As one continues to work in a given area, one’s

66 The Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol. 46, Iss. 1, pp. 66–76 © 2012 by the Creative Education Foundation, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/jocb.005
 Journal of Creative Behavior

creative potential for work in that area is slowly (or, sometimes, rapidly) consumed.
One can then either change area of work or possibly watch one’s creativity stagnate.
Moreover, the trajectories of peak performance are different in different creative
careers, with the peak coming early in mathematics and physics and much later in
the social sciences and humanities.
As a graduate student and then a junior faculty member, RJS recognized, with
many of his colleagues, who constituted the “dead wood” in his respective psychol-
ogy departments (Stanford and then Yale). He often wondered whether the dead
wood recognized themselves for what they were, and why they didn’t do something
about their status. At this point of career, RJS thinks he understands better why,
and that is the topic of this essay.

THE PROPULSION THEORY OF CREATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS

We have proposed what we refer to as a “propulsion theory of creative contribu-
tions” (Sternberg, 1999b; Sternberg, Kaufman, & Pretz, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004). Of
course, our theory is only one of many of creativity (see for reviews Kaufman &
Sternberg, 2006, 2010; Sternberg, 1999a). According to our theory, there are 8 differ-
ent kinds of creative contributions, which vary in terms of their relation to existing
ideas and paradigms.
TYPES OF CREATIVITY THAT ACCEPT CURRENT PARADIGMS AND
ATTEMPT TO EXTEND THEM
Replication
The contribution is an attempt to show that the field is in the right place. The
propulsion keeps the field where it is rather than moving it. This type of creativity
is represented by stationary motion, as of a wheel that is moving but staying in
place.

Redefinition
The contribution is an attempt to redefine where the field is. The current status
of the field thus is seen from different points of view. The propulsion leads to circu-
lar motion, such that the creative work leads back to where the field is, but as
viewed in a different way.

Forward Incrementation
The contribution is an attempt to move the field forward in the direction it
already is going. The propulsion leads to forward motion.

Advance Forward Incrementation

The contribution is an attempt to move the field forward in the direction it is
already going, but by moving beyond where others are ready for it to go. The pro-
pulsion leads to forward motion that is accelerated beyond the expected rate of for-
ward progression.

67
Propulsion Theory of Creative Contributions

TYPES OF CREATIVITY THAT REJECT CURRENT PARADIGMS AND

ATTEMPT TO REPLACE THEM
Redirection
The contribution is an attempt to redirect the field from where it is toward a dif-
ferent direction. The propulsion thus leads to motion in a direction that diverges
from the way the field is currently moving.

Reconstruction/Redirection
The contribution is an attempt to move the field back to where it once was (a
reconstruction of the past) so that it may move onward from that point, but in a
direction different from the one it took from that point onward. The propulsion
thus leads to motion that is backward and then redirective.

Reinitiation
The contribution is an attempt to move the field to a different as yet unreached
starting point and then to move from that point. The propulsion is thus from a
new starting point in a direction that is different from that the field previously has
pursued.
TYPE OF CREATIVITY THAT INTEGRATES DIFFERENT CREATIVE STREAMS
OF THOUGHT IN CURRENT PARADIGMS
Synthesis
The contribution moves the field by integrating ideas from what previously have
been two or more separate strands of creative endeavor.
In this essay, we consider how this theory might be applied to individuals con-
templating the latter years of their careers in terms of how they still can move for-
ward. The object of the kinds of propulsion is not the creative ideas of the
investigator about his or her work, per se, but rather, the individual’s ideas about
his or her career.
THE PROPULSION THEORY APPLIED TO LATTER-CAREER
CREATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS
REPLICATION
In replication, creators attempt to replicate in their career what they have done
before. One way of coping with the challenges of later career is to keep doing, more
or less, what you have been doing and hope that it will tide you over until retire-
ment. In this case, the creative individual keeps on doing, to the extent possible,
pretty much what he or she has been doing before. For example, a scientist might
conceptually replicate old experiments with new populations or materials; an artist
might paint again what he or she has painted before with slight variations; a musi-
cian might compose more of the same old same old. An academic who has been
chair of a department for a number of years might sign on for a new term as chair.
There are a number of reasons why a creator might choose this option.

68
 Journal of Creative Behavior

First, one may have exhausted one’s fountain of new ideas. If one accepts
Simonton’s view that creative individuals can only take a single idea or paradigm
so far, the replicator may have simply run that particular race to its end. But the
individual may not have found, or even sought, another race. Effectively, he or
she has defined the space of possible work narrowly, and so has run out of work
to do.
Second, one may have achieved some measure of success with a paradigm, per-
haps even a great measure of success, and find oneself afraid to leave it. If one were
to start something new, it might not be as successful, and might subject the creator
to ridicule as a “has-been” or as a “one-idea person.” So one stays with the original
paradigm because it is tried and true, if dusty.
Third, one simply may no longer have the energy to try something new. Some
creators just run out of steam in the latter years of their careers. So the creator does
minor variants, hoping to fill the years until retirement or until he or she has lost
energy altogether.
Fourth, the cognitive capabilities to create in new ways may have diminished.
Kaufman (2000, 2001) compared cohorts from the standardization samples of
several different editions of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales. He found that
Crystallized Intelligence (acquired knowledge) did not decline notably until people
were in their 80s. However, Fluid Intelligence (novel problem solving) was a differ-
ent story––it peaked in people’s early 20s, and then dropped approximately 5 IQ
points per decade (regardless of education level). Some older professionals may have
significantly less ability to deal with new concepts than they did in their youth. This
finding does not mean that older people are necessarily less creative; Ng and Feld-
man (2008) found that age and creativity (as measured by supervisor ratings) were
not related, and Roskos-Ewoldsen, Black and McCown (2008) found that age differ-
ences in creativity disappeared when controlling for working memory.
As an assistant professor in the late 1970s, RJS talked to an aging experimental
psychologist. He was doing mathematical models of concept learning, which had
been popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but had since been eclipsed by other
kinds of work. Nevertheless, he was sticking by his old paradigm in the face of a
field that had passed him by. He simply was not prepared to change with the times,
and so the times left him behind.
Rex Stout was a brilliant writer of detective stories who created the Nero Wolfe
detective series. The stories set in the 1930s seemed to fit the period very well. But
as the years passed, the age of Nero Wolfe and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin, passed
with them. It became harder to imagine the still-single Archie dancing the night
away in the 1960s at the Pelican Club with Lily Rowan, his paramour. The novels
continued to be intriguing and deftly written, but they no longer fit the times.
Many singers or entertainers who were popular decades ago have turned the last
half of their career into replication. They set up shop in a city like Branson, Mis-
souri, or else tour the country to play at casinos, county fairs, and college cam-
puses. People such as comedian Yakov Smirnoff and singer Tony Orlando may
evoke faint recognition from most people, yet have shows that are well-attended in

69
Propulsion Theory of Creative Contributions

Branson. Such shows can seem like time capsules, with artists exhibiting the exact
same comedic or musical styles that they had years ago when they were in their
prime.
REDEFINITION
In the case of redefinition, creators continue to do in their careers what they have
been doing, but view it in a new way. For example, a scientist who has never gone
outside the lab may see a practical application of what he or she is doing, and start
to tout the practical application, doing essentially the same kind of work but “selling
it” differently. A writer may continue to write the same kinds of books or articles,
but target them at a new audience. An architect may use the same kinds of designs
she has been using, but for buildings serving different functions from those she has
designed in the past.
As creators age, they sometimes see old work in a new light. They come to view
their work in either a broader or narrower light. If they see things more broadly,
then they may seek out new audiences or at least seek to persuade their old audience
that the work they have done has broader appeal than people have realized. If they
see things more narrowly, they may retreat to their lab, studio, or study to work the
remainder of their career in greater solitude. Finding new meaning gives them a new
lease on a creative career.
In Sigmund Freud’s early and mid-careers, he worked out a theory of psychoanal-
ysis that became one of the most famous contributions to the understanding of indi-
viduals anyone ever had made. As he approached his later career, and as challenges
in society (the Nazi regime) became more acute, Freud’s Civilization and its Discon-
tents, published in 1930, is not a book Freud would have been likely to write at the
time he was working on The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901). In his later
years, Freud found new meaning in his explorations of psychoanalysis.
Bandura (2002) has applied his important work on modeling to media by con-
sulting with television producers and writers. Soap operas (or serial dramas) around
the world have tackled such issues as domestic violence and condom usage by show-
ing positive role models demonstrating positive behavior. Bandura’s (2006) work
with these groups has enabled his empirical research to have an impact on an inter-
national population. It is also an example of how different people can demonstrate
different types of propulsion on the same project. The television producer who first
called Bandura to discuss applying modeling to soap operas, Sabido (1981), demon-
strated advanced forward incrementation. He moved the field of television produc-
tion greatly forward in using psychological theory in his plotlines to help educate
the populace. It would be several years (and after the demonstrated success of Sabi-
do’s work with Bandura) before the practice became more commonplace (Smith,
2002).
Outside of psychology, George Lucas has experienced two stages of redefinition
in his moviemaking career. While Lucas worked on the original Star Wars trilogy
and during the years immediately following, he grew his cinematic empire in
numerous ways. He helped develop Pixar and THX sound. He wrote and produced

70
 Journal of Creative Behavior

many movies and television shows (including the Indiana Jones trilogy). At some
point in the mid-1990s, however, Lucas decided to expand the original trilogy by
writing and directing three prequels to the original films. First, he redefined the Star
Wars trilogy by telling the story of how the main villain (Darth Vader) turned to
the Dark Side. After he completed these three films, he then had his second phase
of redefining Star Wars. Using new advances in computer-generated imagery, many
invented by his companies, Lucas reshaped the three original Star Wars films. He
fixed flaws, added background characters, and generally tried to perfect the movies.
Lucas made changes for theatrical re-releases and home DVD release, and has con-
tinued to tinker with the films for their Blu-Ray debut (Itzkoff, 2011). This revamp-
ing has met with mixed responses among fans of the movies (Gould, 2011).
FORWARD INCREMENTATION
In forward incrementation, one moves one’s career forward in the direction it
has been going. As one approaches the end of a career, creative productivity often
decreases, for any number of reasons, such as increased other commitments, less-
ened energy or possible problems of physical health, diminishment of ideas, or less-
ened match between one’s preferred paradigms and the times.
The choice of most creators probably would be to pursue forward incrementa-
tion, continuing to do what they did before, but moving their creative program for-
ward in a fairly linear way. In this way, they continue to contribute and to “earn
their keep.” For example, a department chair might attempt to become a dean.
Someone who is grant-funded to study a particular phenomenon might try to get
one more grant—perhaps the last one—to study that phenomenon further.
For many creators, however, forward incrementation at the twilight of a career is
harder than it appears.
First, they may have run out their creative program, in which case they may make
forward increments, but smaller ones than they or others ideally would like.
Second, if they are seeking a promotion, they may be judged by search committees
as “over the hill” and therefore not worthy of that next promotion.
Third, if they are scientists, it is often harder, at least these days, to get a grant
when one is near the end of one’s career than it was to get one earlier in one’s
career. Perhaps reviewers and program directors believe that funds should go to
investigators with more of a future career trajectory in front of them, or perhaps
they think that the researcher’s research program has run its course, or perhaps they
believe that the Zeitgeist has left the researcher behind. But grants are generally easi-
est to get at mid-career points and harder in earlier and later career years.
Fourth, if they are seeking to collaborate with students, students may be more
drawn to creators who are younger and are going to be better able to support
them throughout their entire career. Investigators who are near the end of their
career are not going to be able, on average, to give the same kind of long-term
career support that early-career or mid-career investigators can provide as lifelong
mentors. As an extreme example, JCK had a friend in graduate school who chose
an emeritus professor as her advisor. The professor was a brilliant scholar and

71
Propulsion Theory of Creative Contributions

wonderful person, but died in her third year. She had to rearrange her research
program (virtually shifting fields). She received her Ph.D., but is no longer work-
ing in academia.
Fifth, as noted earlier, late-career creators may have acquired so many other obli-
gations—to administration, national organizations, family, and the like—that they
simply do not have as much time or energy for proceeding forward.
ADVANCE FORWARD INCREMENTATION
In advance forward incrementation, creators take a huge leap forward, perhaps
greater than their audiences are ready for. Advance forward incrementations are
probably less likely during late-career than at other points. For one thing, as Gard-
ner (1994) has pointed out, later-career creativity tends to be more of the synthetic
type than of the giant-conceptual-leap type. For another thing, convincing people to
believe in an advance forward incrementation typically takes a lot of time—time the
later-career individual may not have.
In an academic career, a researcher running out of time may feel that it is now or
never to make a large advance in one’s research. If a department chair is applying
for administrative jobs, he or she may realize that it may well be the last job that is
at hand, and the only way to rise to a high position is to skip a step, as in an eleva-
tion from department chair or provost (bypassing dean). In either a scientific or
artistic career, one may feel that a radical advance is now possible because it no
longer matters what people say—one is in one’s final years in any case so a negative
reaction from an audience can only hurt for a short period of time.
One classic example of a late-career advance forward incrementation is Peter
Mark Roget. Dr. Roget was a polymath; he worked as a medical doctor, invented an
early slide rule, and conducted pioneering optics research. One of Roget’s other
interests was writing entries for encyclopedias of the day and also popular manuals
on a variety of topics. Always a list maker, when Roget retired as a doctor at the age
of 61, he returned to a pet project: compiling a comprehensive list of synonyms
(Kendall, 2008). The resulting book, Roget’s Thesaurus, became a landmark advance
in public reference works. Roget’s classification system (based on the work of many
classic philosophers) is still used for many current reference works, including Wiki-
pedia.
REDIRECTION
Redirection is a viable option for later-career creators. In redirection, they decide
to pursue a different direction than that they have pursued before. For example, a
scientist who was getting large grants when he or she was younger but no longer is
pulling in such grants may decide to look for a line of research that is less costly. Or
the researcher may go into academic or corporate administration. Someone whose
research required a lot of assistants may look for a line that he or she can pursue
with less support by assistants. An artist may try an entirely new style or painting or
a composer may try composing works of a kind different from those he or she has
composed before.

72
 Journal of Creative Behavior

In later career, redirection takes a willingness to defy the crowd (see Sternberg &
Lubart, 1995). People, including oneself, may be so used to thinking of one in a par-
ticular role that it is hard to envision one in another role.
Perhaps the most common move is for creators to go into administration or into
careers that allow them to utilize the knowledge and skills they have built up over
time. They may become academic administrators, or corporate, foundation, or gov-
ernment administrators. Researchers who have devoted little time to teaching may
throw themselves completely into teaching, realizing that their research careers are
essentially done. Teachers who feel burned out may try research, even if on a small
scale. Artists may open galleries, dancers who can no longer dance at a professional
level may become dance instructors, musicians who have joint or other issues may
become teachers.
Darryl Bem is an example of a psychologist who has engaged in redirective crea-
tive work while staying within the domain of empirical research and theory. After a
distinguished career studying self-beliefs (Bem, 1972), in which he argued that peo-
ple base their attitudes on their behavior (and not vice versa), he tackled two differ-
ent completely different and controversial questions. For one of his new lines of
study, Bem (1996) proposed the Exotic-Erotic theory of sexual orientation. He
argued that people’s sexual orientation was dependent on whether they engaged in
gender-typical or gender-atypical behavior as a child. Whichever gender was rarely
interacted with as a child became “exotic,” and, therefore, sexually desirable. Bem’s
(2011) second new area of research was to argue that empirical evidence validated
“psi” (i.e., extra-sensory perception). This latter work has met with extensive contro-
versy, such that the New York Times ran a series of articles debating the hazards of
peer review if such a paper could be accepted (Gad-el-Hak, 2011).
One of the coauthors, RJS, engaged in what is essentially a redirection. For
30 years, his career was defined primarily by his research. After a stint as president
of a large organization (the American Psychological Association) and after feeling
for a number of years that his work was not having the societal impact he had
hoped for when he started his career, he became an administrator so that he could
apply his ideas directly to universities (Sternberg, 2008, 2009a, 2009b, 2010a, 2010b,
2010c, 2010d, 2011a, 2011b).
RECONSTRUCTION/REDIRECTION
In reconstruction/redirection, creators go back to an earlier point in their careers
and try to redirect from there rather than from where they currently are in their
careers. For example, researchers may feel, later in their careers, that they made a
misstep somewhere along the line that led to a suboptimal line of research. They
may attempt to go back to the point where they made the misstep and redirect from
there. Artists may feel that they adopted a style or a medium that did not work for
them, and return to restart.
For example, one of us, in talking to an artist, heard how the artist had switched
from watercolors to oils because that was where the money was when she sold her
paintings, but she later felt that her natural medium was watercolors and hence

73
Propulsion Theory of Creative Contributions

returned to watercolors and attempted to find a new style of painting in the

medium she loved.
Within psychology, some researchers believe that there is more information (or
different information) that can be obtained by examining the original datasets used
in classic studies. They obtain these data and re-analyze them, whether to use new
statistical techniques, control for new variables, or test relationships previously
unexplored. Two examples can be found in creativity research. Plucker (1999)
re-analyzed data from a longitudinal study conducted by Paul Torrance. Plucker
looked at how divergent thinking and IQ scores differed in predicting creative
achievements, finding evidence for the importance of divergent thinking. Silvia
(2008) re-analyzed data from other investigators using latent-variable analysis and
found that the relationship between creativity and intelligence may have been
initially under reported.
REINITIATION
In reinitiation, creators decide essentially to start with a new career. The individual
decides that he or she has had a full career in whatever he or she was doing and now
wants a radical change. In these reinitiations, creators decide that they have it within
them to try something totally different, and they essentially begin a new career follow-
ing a retirement. Such a path has become increasingly common in our society.
Someone who has been an entrepreneur, like Bill Gates, may decide instead to
devote his or her time primarily to philanthropy (an activity he formerly delegated
to others). A psychologist we know left the field to become a docent in an art
museum. John Holt, a writer of books about education, devoted his later years to
playing the cello in a series of musical groups. An editor at a textbook publisher in
Texas opened a bed-and-breakfast in Vermont with her husband. Conversely, we
also know several theater professionals who have earned Ph.D.s in Psychology and
are currently doing research.
SYNTHESIS
In synthesis, individuals may find ways to interweave what they have been doing
with new pursuits. For example, a writer who has also been an avid but avocational
bridge player may decide to start writing about bridge. In syntheses, previously sepa-
rated interests may be brought together, or a new interest may be brought together
with an old one.
One of the coauthors, JCK, has engaged in career synthesis. Always an ardent musi-
cal theater buff (and one-time lyricist/playwright), he has begun to study musical the-
ater performers and creators. The personal benefits of such synthesis-based creative
propulsion can be equal to the professional benefits; in addition to the intellectual
challenge, JCK has been able to reach out to artists whose work he admires and enjoys.

CONCLUSION
There are many books of advice for those starting careers (including one of our
own—Sternberg, 2004), but there is less out there for those who are seeking to

74
 Journal of Creative Behavior

finish their careers in style. The propulsion theory of creative contributions, when
applied to careers, suggests a number of different options creators may follow as
they think about their intellectual legacy. Clearly, there is no one path that works
for everyone. But this theory perhaps provides options that some later-career indi-
viduals might not think of that would provide them with satisfaction beyond that
they might otherwise achieve.

REFERENCES
BANDURA, A. (2002). Environmental sustainability by sociocognitive deceleration of population growth. In
P. Schmuck & W. Schultz (Eds.), The psychology of sustainable development (pp. 209–238). Dordrecht,
Netherlands: Kluwer.
BANDURA, A. (2006). Autobiography. In M.G. Lindzey & W.M. Runyan (Eds.), A history of psychology in
autobiography (Vol. IX). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
BEM, D.J. (1972). Self-perception theory. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology
(Vol. 6, pp. 1–62). New York: Academic Press.
BEM, D.J. (1996). Exotic becomes erotic: A developmental theory of sexual orientation. Psychological Review,
103, 320–335.
BEM, D.J. (2011). Feeling the future: Experimental evidence for anomalous retroactive influences on cogni-
tion and affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 407–425.
GAD-EL-HAK, M. (2011). When peer review falters. New York Times. Available from: http://www.nytimes.
com/roomfordebate/2011/01/06/the-esp-study-when-science-goes-psychic/when-peer-review-falters [last accessed 1
September 2011].
GARDNER, H. (1994). Creating minds. New York: Basic Books.
GOULD, C. (2011). Star Wars: The changes. In DVDActive.com. Available from: http://www.dvdactive.com/
editorial/articles/star-wars-the-changes-part-one.html [last accessed 29 August 2011].
ITZKOFF, D. (2011). Lucasfilm confirms change to blu-ray release of ‘Return of the Jedi‘. New York Times.
Available from: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/ lucasfilm-confirms-change-to-blu-ray-
release-of-return-of-the-jedi/ [last accessed 31 August 2011].
KAUFMAN, A.S. (2000). Seven questions about the WAIS-III regarding differences in abilities across the 16
to 89 year life span. School Psychology Quarterly, 15, 3–29.
KAUFMAN, A.S. (2001). WAIS-III IQs, Horn’s theory, and generational changes from young adulthood to
old age. Intelligence, 29, 131–167.
KAUFMAN, J.C., & STERNBERG, R.J. (Eds.) (2006). The international handbook of creativity. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
KAUFMAN, J.C., & STERNBERG, R.J. (Eds.) (2010). Cambridge handbook of creativity. New York: Cam-
bridge University Press.
KENDALL, J. (2008). The man who made lists. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
NG, T.W., & FELDMAN, D.C. (2008). The relationship of age to ten dimensions of job performance. The
Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 392–423.
PLUCKER, J. (1999). Is the proof in the pudding? Reanalyses of Torrance’s (1958 to present) longitudinal
study data. Creativity Research Journal, 12, 103–114.
ROSKOS-EWOLDSEN, B., BLACK, S.R., & MCCOWN, S.M. (2008). Age-related changes in creative think-
ing. Journal of Creative Behavior, 42, 33–57.
SABIDO, M. (1981). Towards the social use of soap operas. Mexico City, Mexico: Institute for Communication
Research.
SILVIA, P.J. (2008). Creativity and intelligence revisited: A reanalysis of Wallach and Kogan (1965). Creativity
Research Journal, 20, 34–39.
SIMONTON, D.K. (1974). Greatness: Who makes history and why. New York: Guilford Press.
SIMONTON, D.K. (1975). Age and literary creativity: A cross-cultural and transhistorical survey. Journal of
Cross-Cultural Psychology, 6, 259–277.

75
 Propulsion Theory of Creative Contributions

SIMONTON, D.K. (1988). Creativity, leadership, and chance. In R.J. Sternberg (Ed.), The nature of creativity
(pp. 386–426). New York: Cambridge University Press.
SIMONTON, D.K. (1995). Foresight in insight: A Darwinian answer. In R.J. Sternberg, &
J.E. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of insight (pp. 495–534). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
SIMONTON, D.K. (1997). Creative productivity: A predictive and explanatory model of career trajectories
and landmarks. Psychological Review, 104, 66–89.
SIMONTON, D.K. (1999). Creativity from a historiometric perspective. In R.J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of
creativity (pp. 116–133). New York: Cambridge University Press.
SIMONTON, D.K. (2009). Genius 101. New York: Springer.
SMITH, D. (2002). The theory heard ‘round the world. Monitor on Psychology, 30–32. Available from: http://
www.apa.org/monitor/oct02/theory.aspx [31 August2011].
STERNBERG, R.J. (Ed.) (1999a). Handbook of creativity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
STERNBERG, R.J. (1999b). A propulsion model of types of creative contributions. Review of General Psychol-
ogy, 3, 83–100.
STERNBERG, R.J. (2004). Psychology 101 ½. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
STERNBERG, R.J. (2008). Interdisciplinary problem-based learning: An alternative to traditional majors and
minors. Liberal Education, 94, 12–17.
STERNBERG, R.J. (2009a). A new model for teaching ethical behavior. Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(33),
B14–B15.
STERNBERG, R.J. (2009b). WICS: A new model for liberal education. Liberal Education, 95(Fall), 20–25.
STERNBERG, R.J. (2010a). College admissions for the 21st century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
STERNBERG, R.J. (2010b). Defining a great university. Inside Higher Education. Available from: http://www.
insidehighered.com/views/2010/11/29/sternberg [last accessed 5 March 2012].
STERNBERG, R. J. (2010c). Teach creativity, not memorization. Chronicle of Higher Education, 57 (October
15), A29.
STERNBERG, R.J. (2010d). Teaching for ethical reasoning in liberal education. Liberal Education, 96(3), 32–
37.
STERNBERG, R.J. (2011a). The flaw of overall rankings. Inside Higher Education. Available from: http://www.
insidehighered.com/views/2011/01/24/sternberg [last accessed 5 March 2012].
STERNBERG, R.J. (2011b). Slip-sliding away, down the ethical slope. Chronicle of Higher Education, 57(19),
A23.
STERNBERG, R.J., KAUFMAN, J.C., & PRETZ, J.E. (2001). The propulsion model of creative contributions
applied to the arts, & letters. Journal of Creative Behavior, 35(2), 75–101.
STERNBERG, R.J., KAUFMAN, J.C., & PRETZ, J.E. (2002). The creativity conundrum: A propulsion model of
kinds of creative contributions. New York: Psychology Press.
STERNBERG, R.J., KAUFMAN, J.C., & PRETZ, J.E. (2003). A propulsion model of creative leadership. Lead-
ership Quarterly, 14, 455–473.
STERNBERG, R.J., KAUFMAN, J.C., & PRETZ, J.E. (2004). A propulsion model of creative leadership. Crea-
tivity and Innovation Management, 13(3), 145–153.
STERNBERG, R.J., & LUBART, T.I. (1995). Defying the crowd: Cultivating creativity in a culture of conformity.
New York: Free Press.
Robert J. Sternberg, Oklahoma State University
James C. Kaufman, California State University, San Bernardino
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Robert J. Sternberg, Office of Academic
Affairs, Whitehurst 101 Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078. E-mail:robert.sternberg@okstate.
edu

76

View publication stats