Personality and Artistic Talent

Author(s): Edwin G. Flemming

Source: The Journal of Educational Sociology, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Sep., 1934), pp. 27-33
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2961423
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 PERSONALITY AND ARTISTIC TALENT
EDWIN G. FLEMMING

There seems to be a feelingamong people today that the

changingeconomicorderwill bringin itswake increasedleisure
forthe great mass of people. Committeesare being organized
to considerthe problemof directingthe use of that leisure to
sociallyand individuallyprogressiveand culturalends. There
would seem to be an opportunity forthoseinterestedin art and
the developmentof Americanartistictalentto directthe atten-
tion of the public and of educationalinstitutions towardsthe
possibilitiesof trainingin art appreciationand art techniques.
For such a programthe hope would be that such trainingand
activitywould lead to an indigenousAmericanart and culture
of a highorder.
But forthe developmentof a betterAmericanartand culture
somethingmore is needed than the mere acquisitionof knowl-
edge and skill in techniquesor artisticproduction.Back of the
techniquesmustbe thepersonality oftheartist.For artand artists
to thrive,our milieu must provide sustenanceand encourage-
ment for the developmentof the artisticpersonality.An art
commercially profitableis notnecessarilyfineart.Art of lasting
meritwill inevitablybe the expressionand embodimentof the
personalityof the artistand of the people.
There has been much loose discussionabout the nature of
artisticpersons,almosteveryindividualhavinghis own opinion.
The purposeof thisstudyis to tryto determinewhattraitsand
characteristics
ofpersonality are likelyto be associatedwithartis-
tic talent.
The subjectswereeighty-four girlsoftheHorace Mann High
School forgirls,TeachersCollege, ColumbiaUniversity.'They
constituted the junior and seniorclasses.To determinewho the
'It is necessarythat I acknowledge my indebtednessto Dr. Cecile White Flemming,
directorof the Division of Pupil Adjustmentof the Horace Mann School, who

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28 The Journalof Educational Sociology
artisticgirls were the teacherswere given lists of forty-seven
traits,including"talented in some field of art," and asked to
checkforeachgirlthetraitsor characteristics
thatcouldbe attrib-
uted to each of them. The traitswere:
Intelligent Helpful
Sense of humor Modest
Interestingin conversation Dependable
Considerateof others Unselfish
Talented in some fieldof art Good judgment
"Good sport" Witty
Beautifulor pretty Individuality
Amusing Competent
Frank Idealistic
Understanding Neat
Generous Industrious
Sociable Tolerant
Loyal Entertaining
Sympathetic Natural,unaffected
Good natured Fair
Athletic Well informed
Courteous Adaptable
Sincere Pleasantvoice
Attractivepersonalappearance Wide interests
Honest,truthful Not easilyexcited
Clever Smilingcountenance
Lively Tactful
Cultured Original
Temperamental
At least threeteacherscheckeda list foreach girl,while in a
few cases six teachersgave ratingsfor a particulargirl. The
average numberof lists checkedper girl was 3.6. Since each
checklistwas the reactionof a different
personto an individual,
gatheredthe data which made this studypossible, and to expressappreciation for
the cooperation of the teachers and girls in the school who participated in this
inquiry.

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 Personalityand ArtisticTalent 29
we mightconsiderthetraitscheckedon eachlistas representing a
distinctpersonality. In thatcasetherewasa totalofthreehundred
and threepersonalitiesanalyzed. Thirty-three per centof these
personalitiesweretalentedin some fieldof art.While thismay
be considereda large percentageit mustbe remembered thatthe
girls at the Horace Mann School are a highlyselectedgroup,
being of distinctly superiorintelligenceand comingfromfam-
ilies thathave a superiorculturaland economicbackground.
In addition,each girl indicatedon a scale of ten the intensity
of pleasant feelingthat she associatedsubjectivelywith every
othergirl of her class. This gave me a measureof what may
be termedthepleasingnessofthepersonalityof each girl.There
was an average of over thirty-five ratingsforeach girl on this
factorof pleasingness.
The teachers,also on a scale of ten,indicatedthe amountof
personality thateach girlpossessed.For thismeasuretherewere
not fewerthan threeratingsfor each girl. The average rating
was takenas the measureof personality.
For a measureof leadershipwe took into consideration the
positionsof leadership or responsibility actually held by the
girlsduringthe ninth,tenth,and eleventhgradesin the Horace
Mann High School forGirls.The senioryearwas not included
because only about half of the subjectshad completedthe last
year. Also, due to the factthata numberof girlshad not been
in attendanceat the school forall threeyears,therewere only
seventy-onesubjects consideredfor the study of relation to
leadership.Various positionsreceivedvarious pointsof credit
accordingto a scheduledeterminedby the schoolauthoritiesfor
the purposeof allocatingcreditsto the girlsforextraclassactivi-
ties,and whichare made a routinepartof the schoolrecord.
The methodof determining thedegreeofassociationbetween
"talentedin some fieldof art" and the othertraitsand charac-
teristics
was by meansof the coefficient of contingency described

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30 The Journalof Educational Sociology
by H. E. Garrett.2A two by twofoldtable was used. In inter-
pretingresultsit is necessaryto bear in mindthatfora two by
twofoldtablethehighestpossiblecoefficient is .707, whereasthe-
oreticallyperfectassociationshould yield a coefficient of i.00.
It is probable,then,thatthe actualassociationis somewhatmore
definitethanis indicatedbythecoefficients of contingency found.
The coefficientof contingency, C, between"talentedin some
field of art" and personalityas rated by the teachersis .25. It
appears then that there is a definitetendencyfor those with
artistictalentto possess what is commonlycalled personality.
Causal relationshipis, of course,notnecessarilyindicated.
The coefficient of contingencywith pleasing personalityas
ratedby the girlsis .14. The associationhere is not particularly
highor significant, althoughif our prejudicerunsin thatdirec-
tion we mighthave some basis for contendingthat those with
some artistictalentare more likelyto be pleasingto theircon-
temporariesthan otherwise.
The coefficientof contingency with leadershipis .14. Here
again theassociationis neitherparticularlyhighnorparticularly
significant. However, the talented in art are not necessarily
devoid of leadershipability.On the otherhand, we would not
expectthetalentedin artto showanyspecialaptitudeto organize
and lead theirownartisticgroups.Their leadersmightor might
not be also talentedin some fieldof art.
Whethertheseresultsare applicableto boysas well as girlsis
at presentanybody'sguess.Since,however,all studiesof sex dif-
ferencesshowfewor no importantcharacteristics withrespectto
whichthereis a highlysignificant wide difference, we may as-
sume,untilthereis evidencetothecontrary, thattherelationships
foundin thisstudyare applicableapproximatelyto both sexes.
Whetherthe resultshereobtainedcan be applied to the adult
professionalartistis anothermatterwhichinvolveseven more
'Statistics in Psychologyand Education (New York: Longmans, Green and Com-
pany, 19z6), pp. 195-201.

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 Personality Talent
andArtistic 3I
of a guess. If theyare so applicableat all it will be becauseit is
fromthe talentedin the schoolsthatthe professionalartistsare
chosen. How much or to what extentprofessionalexperience
and maturity increaseor decreasethetendenciesherefoundmust
be left to furtherinvestigation.
TABLE I

Showingthe Coefficientsof ContingencyBetween "Talented in Some

Field of Irt" and VariousOther Traitsand Characteristics
C C
Idealistic . . . . . . . .5I Temperamental . . . . . . I4
Original . . . . . . . . .41 Interestingin conversation . . .13
Wide interests. . . . . . .3' Understanding. . . . . . .I 3
Clever . . . . . . . . .30 Loyal . . . . . . . . . I3
Cultured
.29 Honest. .3
Individuality . . . . . . .27 Lively . . . . . . . . .I I
Well informed. . . . . . .24 Considerateof others . . . Io0
Entertaining . . . . . . .zI Smiling countenance . . . . . T.0
Intelligent . . . . . . . . 20 Courteous . . . . . . . .07
"Good sport" . . . . . . .20 Unselfish . . . . . . . .07
Pleasant voice . . . . . . .20 Helpful . . . . . . . . .o6
Sense of humor . . . . . .19 Tolerant . . . . . . . .o6
Amusing . . . . . . . . I9 Sincere . . . . . . . . .o4
Generous . . . . . . . i9 Natural, unaffected . . . . o04
Witty. I9 Frank. .3
Adaptable . . . . . . . I9 Attractivepersonalappearance . .03
Competent . . . . . . . . 8 Dependable . . . . . . . .03
Fair .i8 Athletic.02
Beautiful or pretty . . . . .6 Industrious . . . . . . . 0oo
Sympathetic . . . . . . . I6 Good-natured . . . . . . .02
Tactful . . . . . . . . .I 6 Modest . . . . . . . . ..03
Good judgment. I5 Neat.-.04
Sociable . . . . . . . . .i4 Not easily excited . . . . . 0.o4

Table i showsthe coefficients of contingency foundbetween

"talentedin some fieldof art" and the othertraitsand charac-
teristicsindicated.Idealism seemsto be the outstandingmarkof
artistictalent.Next come originality, cleverness,
wide interests,
culture,and individuality.Until the Americanmilieu actively
and overtlyapproves,sustains,encourages,and rewardsthese
thereis not likelyto develop in thiscountryan
characteristics,

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32 The Journalof EducationalSociology
artof a particularly highorder.The idealismof theyoungis
soonturnedto cynicism afteronlya littleexperience withwhat
is called"real life"butis in realitymerelytheartificial world
of competitive business.
Originality is quicklyreducedto medi-
ocrityby our machinery forstandardization. Those withwide
interestsaredilettantein a worldwherespecialization is almost
a fetish.Clevernessis rewardedin onlyone direction-legal
chicanery and financial
trickery. Cultureofa sortwe have,and
the seeds of a greatculturemayyetbe permitted to sprout
and grow.Individuality is rampant in industrialism amongthe
economically powerful, butstifled at theendlessbeltof quan-
tityproduction.
Whilethemassesof ourpeopleare notas well informed as
theymightbe (and thismightbe said of manyof ourleaders
as well), we do appreciate theentertaining (perhapstoo much
so) andtheamusing. Although we arenotfamousforourpleas-
antvoices,we do havea senseofhumor,are "good sports"and
generous.Intelligenceis perhapsnot as well rewardedas it
deserves;and witis almostnonexistent amongthe American
peopleand in theAmerican drawingroom,ourhumornotyet
havingdevelopedbeyondthehardypioneering stageof exag-
gerationand burlesque.We are adaptableand competent, but
fairness cannotbe said to be rampant, if thecomplaints heard
inthebusiness worldareanycriterion. Sympathetic we areout-
sideofbusiness hoursandamongourclosefriends, butcertainly
we aremorenotedforourdirectness andbluntness thanforour
tact.Our judgment, especiallywithrespectto objectsof art,is
to saytheleastratherpoorand toosubjectto theinfluences of
ballyhoo.
The remaining characteristics
are of littlesignificance and
neednotdetainus long.It is,however, interesting
to notethat
thecoefficientofcontingency between "talentedinsomefieldof
art" and temperamental is but.14. It is notsignificantly high

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 Personalityand ArtisticTalent 33
but still high enough to give a footing,althougha precarious
one,to theprejudicedopinionthat"temperamentality" is an out-
standingcharacteristic of the artist.It is also of interestto note
thatthosewithartistic talentare no moresincerethanthegeneral
run. Whether lack of sincerityin one's artisticproductions
deprivesthemofsomeoftheirvirtuesis,naturally,anotherques-
tion.My ownprejudiceis thata meritorious workof artwill be
sincereat themomentofproduction whatevertheartist'sattitude
may be beforehe beginshis work or afterit is completed.In
activityofan artisticnaturetheartistmustnecessarily be sincere,
otherwisehis workwill show inevitableflawssensibleto those
withfinefeeling.That the artistis no moreand no less industri-
ous thanthe averageis likewiseof some interest, sincethe opin-
ion has oftenbeenexpressedthattheartistis generallylazy. The
same commentapplies to dependability,the coefficient of .03
indicatingthat the artistis just as dependable and no less so
thanthe ordinarymortal.
The negativecoefficients mayattractsome attention, but they
are so low thattheyare hardlyworthmentioning. Furtherstud-
ies of these traits,however-good-natured,modest,neat, and
noteasilyexcited-mightshowmoredefinite trendsamongthose
who have becomeprofessionalartists.
In conclusion,then,we may say thatcertaintraitsof person-
alityare fairlydefinitelyassociatedwithtalentin art,the most
significantof which are idealism, originality,wide interests,
cleverness,culture,and individuality.It is also probable that
until the changingeconomicorder puts its stamp of approval
upon them in the formof general admirationand substantial
reward,art in Americawill continueto have as hard a timein
theneworderas it has had in the"dog-eat-dog"era of economic
individualismand capitalitsiceconomy,notwithstanding the
probableincreaseof leisureand earningcapacityof the masses.

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