Divergent thinking is a general analysis of what surrounds us, without being very clear about the purpose of our research. It’s like raising the antennas before we point them somewhere to see if there are signals. The use of divergent thinking allows one to become interested in what one finds by observing in a perhaps superficial but very useful way, an operation during which neither strong signals nor weak signals are sought, paradoxically nothing is sought.
Even if you don’t look for it, something will be found because the mind is tuned to a level of reactivity such that, after a number of inputs have invaded it, it gets going and starts making considerations. In this Psychology-Online article we will see what What is divergent thinking, its characteristics and some examples about.
What is divergent thinking
In the 1950s and 1960s, the American psychologist Joy Paul Guilford published important studies on and . The latter, according to the scholar, is related to the global functioning of the mind, as it is nothing more than an expression of it. He defined that in our mind we can distinguish two types or modes of thought. Next, we tell you what convergent and divergent thinking is.
- Convergent thinking: it is characterized by the repetition of already learned and the adaptation of old responses to new situations in a more or less mechanical way.
- Divergent thinking: implies fluidity, flexibility and originality and essentially refers to the production of new and numerous ideas.
So what is divergent thinking? To better clarify these concepts, we remember that Guilford understood by divergent thinking a productive mode of thought, typical of creativity, that tends towards the new Self. Compared to convergent thinking, which is oriented toward what is known and the correct solution, divergent thinking appears where a problem is yet to be defined or discovered and where there is no indication To solve it.
Indeed, Guilford considered that thought diverged more closely linked to the creative act. On the other hand, he also maintained that this was the ability to produce a range of possible solutions for a given problem, particularly for a problem that does not provide for a single correct answer.
Characteristics of divergent thinking
Thought has different aspects that differentiate it from the rest. Specifically, the characteristics of divergent thinking are:
- Is spontaneous and free.
- It underlies the purest forms of creativity and, in many ways, represents true creativity. In this article, we tell you.
- Generate ideas by exploring many possible solutionsoften in parallel.
- Ideas can arise in a random cognitive modein the form of epiphanies or flashes of genius.
- Various possible solutions are explored and made unexpected connections.
- A high IQ is no guarantee of creativity.
- There are more important characteristics to favor this mode of thinking. Generally, they are personality traits such as anti-conformism, curiositythe willingness to take risks, courage, perseverance and .
- Divergent thinking is fueled by the mental mode of the being and arises, above all, when the calming-satisfying system allows our motor to rotate at a minimum.
Examples of divergent thinking
It is easy to see that such an ability probably plays a role in the creative act, since the artist often has to explore a series of possible ways of painting a picture, finishing a novel, or writing a poem before ultimately deciding. so it seems to be the best.
The creative act is linked to originality. In this case, divergent thinking will play its own role, since the broader the range of possibilities we are capable of producing, the greater the probability that one of them will prove original.
Conflict resolution
Let’s look at one of the examples of divergent thinking. To do this, we will observe the different ways of facing and resolving a conflict of a convergent thinker and a divergent thinker:
- Convergent or rational thinker: addresses problems as a multiple choice question, where there are incorrect answers that can be excluded to leave the correct one.
- divergent thinker: I would try to find more ways to solve the problem, even going around it. In essence, the answer lies in taking time to think before acting, a broader and more creative approach to solving common problems. An example of divergent thinking, reported by a good psychology manual, is thinking about using a brick as a paperweight, while imagining it as an element to build a house is an example of convergent thinking.
As we can see, divergent thinking is related to creativity. Discover .
Divergent thinking puzzle
Let’s now take a classic riddle as an example of divergent thinking: imagine that you find yourself in a room with only two doors. When you cross the first one, you will be instantly pulverized by a giant lens capable of concentrating the sun’s rays. Opening the second time, you will be hit by the flames of a powerful dragon. Which of the two doors do you choose? Naturally, you have to choose the first one, the one with the lens: just wait for the sun to go down.
Solving this puzzle requires an ability to think “out of the box,” to see beyond the beaten path of sequential logic, and to think creatively without taking anything for granted.
The example of the merchant’s daughter
What does it mean that a person is divergent? To explain it, one of the examples of divergent thinking is the anecdote of the merchant’s daughter: A merchant accumulated a large debt with a moneylender. The old moneylender, in love with the merchant’s young daughter, proposed to forgive the debt if he got the girl in exchange. Since he was an inveterate gambler, he proposed letting the case decide.
He said he was going to put two stones in a bag, one white and one black: the girl was going to take one out. If the black stone had come out, she would have become his wife with the debt forgiven. If the target had gone out, she would have stayed with her father and then the debt would have been paid. If she refused to proceed with the extraction, her father would go to jail.
The merchant ended up accepting. When some witnesses were invited, the usurer bent down to pick up the two stones from the gravel path where they were located. The girl noticed that she put two black stones in her bag. Immediately afterwards the moneylender invited the maiden to extract the stone that would decide destiny.
In such a situation the girl, using convergent thinking, could do the following:
- Refusing to extract the stone.
- Show that the bag actually contained two black stones and unmask the deception.
- Take out one of the black stones and sacrifice yourself to save your father.
However, none of these solutions would have been useful. Using her divergent thinking, the girl pulled out a stone, which slipped from her hand, causing it to fall on the avenue where she blended in with the others. “Oh, how clumsy!” she exclaimed. “But it doesn’t matter, looking in the bag will deduce from the stone that remains, the color of the one I extracted.”
The solution, once found, even seems logically obvious. In retrospect it becomes easy to see the consistent thread that, starting from the initial data of a problem, guides it to its solution. The anecdote illustrates howDivergent thinking changes the reference scheme.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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