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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46925//rdluz.34.32

Creativity and uncertainty tolerance as a resource for the

psychological well-being of an individual

Yaroslava Z. Vasylkevych *

Polina O. Shalnieva **

Serhii M. Ryk ***

Halyna Ya. Zhyrska ****

Oksana M. Kikinezhdi *****

ABSTRACT

The objective of the work was to establish the features of creativity and uncertainty tolerance

in people with different levels of psychological well-being. An empirical study of the level of

manifestation of psychological well-being of the studied group and the relationship between

the components of creativity and tolerance for uncertainty was conducted. The study was

conducted using a set of psychological techniques aimed at determining the level of

psychological well-being, uncertainty tolerance, creativity and their components.

Qualitative methods of data processing are used. The study found that people with high

levels of psychological well-being have close relationships between the indicators of the

components of psychological well-being, creativity and uncertainty tolerance. Instead, these

relationships are significantly fewer among people with low levels of psychological well-

being.

KEYWORDS: creativity; tolerance; individual psychology; mental health.



Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Historical and Socio-Psychological

Education, Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, Ukraine. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-

0

002-5946-3005 . E-mail: vasylkevychslava@online.ua

**

PhD Student, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Historical and Socio-Psychological Education,

Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, Ukraine. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6727-

2

321 . E-mail: shalnevpolinka5@gmail.com

***

Head of the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Historical and Socio-Psychological Education,

Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, Ukraine. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1115-

876 . E-mail: ryksm432@ukr.net

3

****

Associate Professor, Department of General Biology and Methodology of Natural Sciences

Teaching, Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical

University, Ukraine. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7042-8956 . E-mail:

zhyrskahal5@gmail.com

*

****

Head of the Psychology Department, Faculty of Pedagogics and Psychology, Ternopil

Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University, Ukraine. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-

002-9240-279X . E-mail: okkikinezhdi@gmail.com

0

Recibido: 10/06/2021

Aceptado: 29/07/2021

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Creatividad y tolerancia a la incertidumbre como recurso para el

bienestar psicológico de un individuo

RESUMEN

El objetivo del trabajo fue establecer las características de la creatividad y la tolerancia a la

incertidumbre en personas con diferentes niveles de bienestar psicológico. Se realizó un

estudio empírico del nivel de manifestación del bienestar psicológico del grupo estudiado y

la relación entre los componentes de la creatividad y la tolerancia a la incertidumbre. El

estudio se llevó a cabo utilizando un conjunto de técnicas psicológicas destinadas a

determinar el nivel de bienestar psicológico, la tolerancia a la incertidumbre, la creatividad y

sus componentes. Se utilizan métodos cualitativos de procesamiento de datos. El estudio

encontró que las personas con altos niveles de bienestar psicológico tienen relaciones

cercanas entre los indicadores de los componentes de bienestar psicológico, creatividad y

tolerancia a la incertidumbre. En cambio, estas relaciones son significativamente menores

entre las personas con bajos niveles de bienestar psicológico.

PALABRAS CLAVE: creatividad; tolerancia; psicología individual; salud mental.

Іntroduction

Modern transformation processes place new demands on a person, which includes a

quick search for new solutions in any situation. This leads to the active development of

human resources, in particular — the creative potential of an individual. A person’s ability to

act creatively, in general, his/her inclination to creative activity is the basis of his/her

development and successful activity. Modern educational paradigms change their vector

from information-reproductive to personality-oriented and creativity-oriented, which also

confirms the importance of the development of individual’s creativity for himself/herself and

for society as a whole.

The aim of the work is to clarify the features of the place of creativity and uncertainty

tolerance in the structure of psychological well-being of an individual. The objectives of the

work are: 1) analyse the latest research that examines the components of psychological well-

being; 2) empirically establish the relationship between indicators of psychological well-

being of an individual, his/her uncertainty tolerance and creativity.

Researcher and practitioner K. Dunker considered the problem of creativity from the

standpoint of productive thinking, believing that problem situations of various kinds are the

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main source of human creativity. He proposed an unconventional type of experimental study,

which later received its own name — “Dunker’s Candle Problem”. This problem provides

different options and solutions, has “several layers”, and only one of these methods and

options is adequate. It is necessary to understand the problem’s internal structure in order to

solve it, and only then start solving. Understanding the essence of the experiment leads to

the solution of the problem. It can be achieved only provided the transformation of past

personal experience, as well as the rejection of established stereotypes and schemes. There is

a conflict between the set tasks and its conditions, which can be overcome only through

understanding, insight (Preiss, 2019).

Kelly’s cognitive theory of creativity considers creativity as an alternative to the banal.

Without using the term “creativity”, J. Kelly developed an original theory of creativity and

creative personality, first describing alternative hypothetical thinking. For J. Kelly, a person

is a researcher, a scholar who interacts effectively and creatively with the world, interpreting

the world, processing information, predicting events. Human life is a study, a constant

advancing of hypothesis of reality, through which a person tries to predict and control events.

The picture of the world is hypothetical, and people advance hypotheses, test them, that is,

perform the same mental actions as scholars in the course of scientific research. Life is a

creative research process (Dimitrova-Burlaienko, 2017).

Wertheimer M. considered creativity from the standpoint of productive thinking,

while he contrasted it with reproductive, which can only reproduce ready-made operations.

Attention was focused on the desire to achieve a clear understanding of the situation or

problem and led to the fact that it regroups the elements into some necessary whole, namely,

a “good” gestalt. Creating a “good” structure is through recentring, which means the

transition from one-sided understanding to centring, which is determined by the objective

side of the situation and moves the centre of the proposed situation from one object to

another (Karwowski & Kaufman, 2017; Kaufman & Sternberg, 2019).

A special contribution to the understanding of the essence of creativity and creative

development was made by the founders of psychoanalysis. Classical psychoanalysis (Z.

Freud, K. Jung, A. Adler, etc.) considers creativity as the formation of creative energy and the

projection of motivation for creative activity (Preiss, 2019; Ryff, 1995). Freud believed that

the result of the sublimation of sexual instincts is creative activity, with the transfer of energy

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from more undifferentiated, primitive and undesirable impulses to more differentiated,

higher, spiritual, cultural. He says that in Western culture and science, sexual instincts are

becoming the main impetus for great achievements, which is how the mechanism of creative

energy formation works (Kwan et al., 2018).

In scientific researchers (Andronnikova & Veterok, 2016; Dimitrova-Burlaienko,

2017), creativity is considered from various aspects:

-

creativity as the ability to quickly assimilate, process and use new information

in various non-standard ways. The importance of inductive thinking and some features of

perception in the creative achievements of the individual. Creative decisions more often arise

during relaxation, distraction, and not when a person is focused on solving a problem;

-

“non-standard thinking”;

three components that most affect the creativity of individual thinking, in

particular: motivation to work; ability in a certain (specific) field; creative processes;

-

feature of intelligence or the highest level of intellectual activity of thinking;

creativity as a basis for the development of professionalism. Creativity in work

is the ability to creatively consider the initial data, generate ideas that go beyond standards

and traditional schemes of thinking, quickly solve problem situations;

-

creativity creates favourable conditions for the development of personality in

general, promotes its self-revelation, self-fulfilment, self-sufficiency and tolerance;

several characteristics that form the image of a creative person, in particular:

openness and ambiguity tolerance; no fear of the unknown;

creativity is integrative in nature, it is inextricably linked with the intellectual,

emotional, reflective, volitional, motivational and activity spheres of personality;

consideration of creativity from the standpoint of problem situations, it is

-

defined as the ability to solve many problems in ever-changing circumstances, the ability to

make decisions in different situations, as well as a set of the following competencies: the

ability to express one’s needs and interests; ability to find other sources of information;

ability to make decisions in different situations; ability to generate original ways to solve the

problem (Muñoz, 2019);

-

a property or complex characteristics of personality;

type of intellectual ability;

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-

creative style of activity;

the result of creative achievements of an individual.

The range of research by foreign scholars is quite wide: from the analysis of traits and

motives of creative personalities, the so-called “I” in connection with creativity, to the study

of creativity as self-actualisation and its relationship with psychiatry (Barron, 2009;

Dimitrova-Burlaienko, 2017; Glăveanu, 2014).

Many researchers closely link creativity to the level of psychological well-being. In

particular, it is believed that the revelation of a person’s creative potential is an important

foundation for his psychological well-being. Non-standard approaches allowa person to find

solutions in stressful situations, which, in turn, has a positive effect on his/her resistance to

negative factors and promotes mental health (Pakhol, 2017).

Creativity is also closely linked to uncertainty tolerance. Uncertainty can be a factor

of stress, frustration, tension and lead to occupational health disorders. It is obvious that

uncertainty tolerance and stress, as well as the ability to overcome them are extremely

important factors that affect the psychological well-being of an individual (Norton, 2002;

Apaza-Panca et al, 2021).

The analysis of the concept of uncertainty tolerance was the subject of research of

many scholars. Psychologists study this concept using different conceptual approaches. The

first approach was used in the works of E. Frenkel-Brunswick in 1948 and in 1949 in the

study of authoritarian personality (Hitchcott et al., 2017; Rafferty et al., 2013). The second

approach to the analysis of uncertainty tolerance is used in the theory of features in the

concept of perception, which was proposed by S. Badner in 1962 (Barbot et al., 2019; Li, 2006;

Paskov, 2017). The third approach treats uncertainty tolerance through models of rational

decision-making and is based on the concept of “probability” (Hammond et al., 2017; Huang,

2006).

Based on the theoretical analysis of information, we assume that uncertainty tolerance

and creativity are closely interrelated and are important structural components of the

psychological well-being of an individual. This hypothesis became the basis for further

empirical research.

1

. Methods

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Several stages of research were carried out to study the features of manifestations of

creativity and uncertainty tolerance in the structure of psychological well-being. First, there

was a review of scientific information and the formation of a theoretical model of research.

The next step was the development of a research model, which involved the selection of a

group of subjects and the selection of psychological techniques. Using a random sampling

method, 300 people aged 22-33 were selected, who were registered at the State Employment

Centre in Kyiv at the end of last year and are currently successfully employed.

The following questionnaires were selected for the study:

1

) K. Riff’s Scale of Psychological Well-being (adapted by T.D. Shevelenkova and P.P.

Fesenko) is reflected in seven indicators: positive relationships with others, autonomy,

environmental management, personal growth, life goal, self-acceptance and an integral

indicator of psychological well-being (that is, its overall level).

2

) Diener’s Satisfaction with the Life Scale. Contains one scale, which indicates the

level of psychological well-being in general.

) Badner’s Uncertainty Tolerance Questionnaire. It contains four scales — a general

tolerance scale and scales that indicate its source — insolvability, novelty or complexity.

) Diagnosis of personal creativity. Contains scales “creativity” (general scale),

propensity to risk” (defending one’s own ideas despite the needs of others), “curiosity”

searching for new information and non-standard solutions), “complexity” (studying

3

4

“

(

complex phenomena and processes), “imagination” (the level of development of the

individual’s imagination).

5) Johnson’s Creativity Checklist adapted by Ye.Ye. Tunik is aimed at studying the

general level of individual’s creativity. The results of the answers for all questionnaires were

calculated using mathematical formulas in Microsoft Excel, and qualitative analysis was

performed using the Statistica package. The statistical methods of data processing involved

one-way analysis of variance, which allows comparing the data in three or more subgroups,

and Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient, which allows identifying relationships

between two independent attributes in the same group.

2

. Results

A quantitative analysis of the data was performed at the beginning of the empirical

study. It was found that the subjects have characteristic features that involve the desire for

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change and willingness to find new solutions and overcome difficult situations. Accordingly,

a high level of uncertainty tolerance was found in 55% of respondents. Only 10% of

respondents are not ready for the changing environmental conditions, they seek clarity and

comprehensibility of the environment and the proposed solutions. It is also worth noting

that 35% of respondents show an average level of uncertainty tolerance. That is, we can say

that in general this study group is characterised by high levels of uncertainty tolerance.

Analysis of the sources of uncertainty suggests that in this study group, the highest

indicators of tolerance are tolerance for the new situation. There are 60% of respondents who

have a strong perception of changing living conditions and consider them an integral part of

their lives. Almost half, 45% of respondents show an average level of tolerance for the

complexity of the proposed situation, and for 37.5% the unsolvability of situations is partly a

factor that can cause difficulties in everyday life (average level of uncertainty tolerance).

Diagnostics of the creativity level of the study group allowed obtaining the following

results. According to the questionnaire for the diagnostics of personal creativity, it was found

that a high creativity level is inherent in 52.5% of respondents, which is a very significant

indicator. Only 12.5% of respondents have a low level of imagination, a tendency to take risks

in certain situations and to understand complex problems.

It is interesting that the propensity to risk was found in 67.5% of subjects. More than

half of the respondents tend to defend their ideas, not to be influenced by other people’s

opinions and set high goals. They strive to realise their plans, but at the same time they

understand their mistakes and accept them.

Instead, the curiosity of the respondents is less developed. Only 22.5% of respondents

have a high level of interest in the world, a tendency to seek new solutions and explore the

surrounding reality. The majority of respondents (65%) have an average level of this quality.

Knowledge of complex objects, solving atypical problems and perseverance in

carrying out their own activities are typical for 30% of respondents, the vast majority of

respondents (42.5%) have an average level of manifestation of this attribute.

On the other hand, imagination, as a tendency to invent original stories, thinking

about new phenomena and objects, atypical perception of objects of the surrounding reality

are not very typical of this study group, as 47.5% have low results on this scale, which is

somewhat contradictory to other indicators of creativity.

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According to the Johnson’s Creativity Checklist adapted by Ye.Ye. Tunik, there are

levels of creativity — very low, low, normal/medium, high and very high. It was found that

5

the average level of creativity is inherent in 52.5% of respondents. Very low rates were not

recorded in any of the respondents, low rates — in 17.5% of respondents, high — in 25% of

respondents, and very high — in 5% of respondents. As the results show, the subjects have

an average level of propensity to find new solutions and atypical approaches to solving the

situation. The subgroup with high creativity rates outnumbers people with a low level of

creativity, which gives grounds to conclude about the medium-high level of creativity in this

group.

The quantitative analysis of the data found that the overall level of psychological well-

being of the subjects is moderate (low level was found in 35% of people, medium level — in

4

0%, high level — in 25%). This suggests that the respondents evaluate their lives as

moderately positive, they are not always satisfied with its quality and harmony and their self-

fulfilment. It is worth noting that a significant part of the subjects is completely dissatisfied

with their lives, feel unhappy in it, experience imbalances in its various areas and subjectively

experience the negativity of their functioning (Figure 1).

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Low level

Medium level

High level

Figure 1. Distribution of indicators of psychological well-being of the respondents

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The analysis of separate components of psychological well-being allowed revealing

the following features of group of subjects. The rate of positive relationships with others is

expressed at an average level. They are quite good at building relationships with other people,

take care of them, understand well that sometimes it is necessary to compromise and can

empathise with others. Almost the same number of respondents have low and high scores on

this scale — one part is mostly isolated from other people, they often experience frustration

and cannot show openness in relationships; on the other hand, it is quite easy for the rest of

the respondents to establish positive relationships with other people and take care of them.

According to the Autonomy scale, the results of the subjects were distributed as

follows: 30% found low indicators on this scale, that is this part of the subjects is quite

dependent on the opinions and actions of others, they are conformal and often rely on the

opinion of another person; 42% of respondents are moderately able to resist influential

environments and maintain their own positions; 37.5% are very independent and

autonomous, they strive to act only as they have decided, and rely only on their own criteria,

not other people’s ones, in assessing their own actions and judgments.

The data on the Environment Management scale are distributed differently. More than

half of the respondents, which is 57.5%, are able to organise their daily activities and adjust

external influences for their own needs. Only 12% of respondents have high scores on this

scale, that is they can effectively use a variety of opportunities to meet their own needs and

achieve goals. Instead, 30% of respondents have a low level of organisation of their activities,

they believe that they are unable to adjust external influences for their own needs, feel unable

to change adverse circumstances and believe that they cannot control anything in their lives.

Indicators on the Personal Growth scale are weakly manifested in only 15% of

respondents, that is this subgroup has a low interest in life, they do not want to create new

relationships or get new experiences from life, and feel that they can continue to grow and

develop as individuals. The majority of respondents (47.5%) quite successfully cope with

these life challenges, have their own areas of interests and development. A great openness to

new experiences, a significant desire for self-development and improvement of various areas

of their lives is found in 37.5%.

The indicators of the Life Goal scale are distributed as follows: 35% of the respondents

showed low results on this scale, 52.5% — medium, and 17.5% — high. We can say that most

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of the subjects have a fairly clear vision of the development of their lives and understand their

expectations of it, although sometimes they may experience existential difficulties. The

subjects are also characterised by average indicators on the Self-Acceptance scale, which are

recorded in 40% of respondents, that is this subgroup tends to fairly rationally assess their

various sides. On the contrary, a significant part of the respondents (35%) are too critical of

themselves, they are disappointed with their achievements and criticise their own personal

qualities. There were 25% of people diagnosed with a positive attitude towards themselves,

they know how to use their negative experiences for learning, as well as understand and

accept their negative qualities.

On the Diener’s Satisfaction with the Life Scale, the following distribution of

indicators is revealed: 2.5% of respondents rate the quality of their life very low, consider it

disharmonious and not as they would like to see it. Another 25% of respondents have a low

level of indicators for this scale, that is we can conclude that a total of 27.5% of respondents

are generally dissatisfied with their lives. More than half of respondents (52.5%) feel happy

in life at the average level. Another 17.5% are characterised by high rates on this scale, and

2.5% — very high rates, that is a total of 20% of respondents are completely satisfied with

their lives and its various areas.

Quantitative calculation of data allowed dividing the subjects into three subgroups

according to their level of psychological well-being (low — n = 50, medium — n = 80, high —

n = 70). Next, one-way analysis of variance revealed differences in scales such as the Dinner

Life Satisfaction Scale, the general level of uncertainty tolerance, the problem unsolvability

(

component of uncertainty tolerance), the general level of creativity and imagination. Let us

consider each of the results in detail.

It was found that life satisfaction is different for all three subgroups (Table 1). Subjects

with a high level of psychological well-being have, accordingly, a high level of satisfaction

with their own life, its fullness and manifestations. People who have low indicators for

mental health, a feeling of “emptiness” of life, lost days, do not have a specific goal where to

go and do not feel general satisfaction with life.

Differences in the indicators of the integrated level of uncertainty tolerance were

found only in subgroups with high and low levels of psychological well-being (Table 2).

Subjects from the first subgroup are resistant to unusual and new situations, calmly perceive

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unexpected changes in circumstances and feel comfortable in such conditions. Instead,

subjects with a low level of psychological well-being are very negative about unexpected

changes in circumstances and find it difficult to adapt to them. Situations that do not have a

specific and definite option of action, but are unpredictable and require a creative approach,

can be critical for them.

Table 1. The results of comparing life satisfaction

{

1}

{2}

{3}

Group

M=16.0625

M=28.7895

M=42.121

1

2

3

{1}

{2}

{3}

0.788446

0.026658

0.189154

Table 2. The results of the comparison of uncertainty tolerance

{

1}

{2}

{3}

Group

M=16.0625

M=28.7895

M=42.121

1

2

3

{1}

{2}

{3}

0.046658

0.189154

There were statistically significant differences between the indicators problem of

unsolvability as a component of tolerance to uncertainty in subgroups with high and medium

levels of psychological well-being. People with a high level of mental health have the ability

to cope well with difficult problems. The subjects of this subgroup perceive those situations

that other people can interpret as hopeless as those that can be overcome. In contrast to

people with a high level of psychological well-being, people with a low level of this indicator

are more negative about complex problems.

The general level of creativity also differs in the studied first and third

subgroups (Table 3). People with a high level of psychological well-being tend to be creative

in their daily lives. They experiment with new solutions and interesting ideas, consider them

as a normal part of their lives and do not consider them too complicated and inaccessible.

Instead, subjects with a low level of psychological well-being have difficulties using

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unconventional approaches. These respondents prefer to use familiar and proven methods of

solving situations and do not try to actively implement new ideas.

Table 3. The results of the comparison of creativity.

{

1}

{2}

{3}

Group

M=9.1250

M=6.5789

M=7.5279

1

2

3

{1}

{2}

{3}

0.448543

0.047358

0.281554

The last indicator which revealed differences in these subgroups was the imagination

of the subjects. Its level also differs in the first and third subgroups, that is in subgroups with

high to low levels of psychological well-being (Table 4).

Table 4. The results of the comparison of imagination.

{

1}

{2}

{3}

Group

M=10.5625

M=9.0000

M=7.5455

1

2

3

{1}

{2}

{3}

0.234359

0.773871

0.733317

The respondents who evaluate their own life as positive and full are more capable of

creative imagination and the creation of new images. Instead, this is not typical for people

from the third subgroup, and they have low imagination indicators.

Analysis of the correlation analysis data revealed such correlations in a subgroup of

people with a high level of psychological well-being. Personal growth has a positive

correlation with creativity (0.523, p≤0.001). The higher the creativity, the more the subjects

seek to develop, be included in society and find new sources for their growth. Positive

relationships with other people directly correlate with creativity (0.463, p≤0.001). The higher

the level of creativity, the more positive emotions prevail over negative ones in a personal

communication. The respondents are prone to experience such emotions as joy, pleasure, fun

in interpersonal interaction. Positive relationships with others also directly correlate with

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the creativity level on the Johnson scale (0.303, p≤0.001). Thus, the higher the creativity, the

more pronounced is the tendency to assess their interpersonal contacts positively.

Personal growth is also directly related to the performance indicators of the Johnson’s

Creativity Checklist (0.352, p≤0.001). The higher the level of creativity, the more the studied

group has a sense of emotional satisfaction from their life and development and is confident

in themselves and in their abilities.

The Life Goal indicators are positively correlated to creativity (0.453, p≤0.001). The

more pronounced life goals and feelings of meaning in life, beliefs that give meaning to life,

the higher the indicators of creativity.

It was also found that there is a correlation between uncertainty tolerance and the

Autonomy scale (0.521, p≤0.001). This suggests that the ability to act effectively in

unpredictable and unexpected situations allow generating the independence and autonomy

of the respondent. A direct statistically significant relationship between the indicators of the

Environment Management scale with uncertainty tolerance indicators. The level of

uncertainty tolerance is related to the personal qualities of the respondent in having power

and competence in the environment management and control over external activities. This

may mean that such a person is able to act productively in an unfamiliar environment and

will be able to take responsibility in the absence of information.

The correlation between personal growth and uncertainty tolerance was established

(

0.452, p≤0.001). This suggests that uncertainty tolerance can help increase a person’s

interest in life through the flexibility of his/her behaviour. Such a person will consider an

unusual and ambiguous prospect as an opportunity to show his/her personal abilities.

The correlation between psychological well-being and uncertainty tolerance was

established (0.601, p≤0.001) for the subgroup with medium indicators of psychological well-

being. The increase in indicators of psychological well-being is associated with an increase

in the resistance of the subjects to uncertain and unforeseen situations and their ability to

cope with them. The overall indicator of uncertainty tolerance directly correlates with the

creativity level (0.492, p≤0.001) in this subgroup. There were no statistically significant

correlations between creativity and uncertainty tolerance with such scales of psychological

well-being as Autonomy, Environmental Management, Positive Relationships with Others,

Life Goal and Self-Acceptance in the group of subjects with a medium level of psychological

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well-being. It can be stated that for this subgroup a statistically significant correlation for

these scales is not established.

The results of correlation analysis of the components of psychological well-being,

creativity and uncertainty tolerance allow us to consider the features of the relationship of

these indicators in a subgroup of people with low indicators of psychological well-being. It

is important to note that the indicator of life satisfaction in this subgroup and the creativity

level by two methods have a negative correlation coefficient (r = -0.249 and r = -0.341, p

<0.001). This indicates that the subjects have a high indicators for solving problem situations

in non-standard ways and think original, assess their condition rather as unfavourable. They

may experience emotional discomfort, anxiety about their personal qualities, lack of interest

in the events of their own lives, have fewer goals and intentions. It can be assumed that the

self-esteem of such persons and their emotional state is mostly unstable.

The general indicators of creativity in both methods negatively correlated with the

ability to build positive relationships with others, which indicates the difficulty of this

subgroup of people in building close trusting relationships (r=-0.342 and r=-0.431, p<0.001).

Creativity, which is manifested in everyday life, cannot always be understood and accepted

in the immediate environment, which can significantly complicate communication.

The group of people with a low level of psychological well-being is characterised by

the correlation between such a component of psychological well-being as Personal Growth

and the originality of the answers (r=0.424; p<0.001). Personal growth and life goals, as well

as the ability to create conditions that are comfortable to meet personal needs and achieve

goals set, inversely correlate with the originality of thinking.

3. Discussion

Uncertainty tolerance as a psychological characteristic of a person is important in

maintaining internal balance, in combating stereotypes and prejudices, as well as in the

stability of professional efficiency (Bilopolyi & Lazarenko, 2020). Within the life and rhythm

of the metropolis, uncertainty in various life situations can cause a person to feel complete

rejection and confusion (DeRoma et al., 2003). This can be experienced by a person as a

concern that someone may ignore, someone will try to suppress, and this can result in such

manifestations as avoidance, frustration and refusal to implement plans (Hammond et al.,

2017; Lubart, 2010).

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Factors of uncertainty of internal environment directly correlate with the

psychological well-being of an individual (Archangelidi & Mentzakis, 2017; Cachioni et al.,

2017; Diener et al., 1999; Gilligan et al., 2017). Psychological well-being, above all, is presented

as a holistic, subjective experience, as an integral mental phenomenon, a set of experiences

that reflects the successful functioning of an individual in a society, with a favourable

emotional background, whose psyche and body are in a functional state, as well as a positive

view of oneself and the world around (Archangelidi & Mentzakis, 2017; Bradburn, 1965).

It is not possible to fix psychological well-being at a certain level. Psychological well-

being is a constant balancing act on the border of the desired and the real, a harmonious

process of uniting parts into a whole in the context of society with the goal of finding a stable

balance (Chapman & Dammeyer, 2017; Wilson et al., 2020).

It should also be noted that quite often creativity is a factor that has a positive effect

on well-being. The basis of psychological well-being is the principle of activity, flexibility of

thinking of the subject. The concept of “flexibility of thinking” of the subject refers to his/her

readiness for new experiences, in self-fulfilment and self-development, which helps to

eliminate self-doubt, thereby relieving internal tension, emotional discomfort, which is also

characteristic of a person with a high level of tolerance, who is able to accept the novelty and

uncertainty of situations and able to act productively in them (González-Hernández et al.,

2019; Wilson et al., 2020).

There is an influence of environmental factors on the relationship between talent,

creativity and psychological well-being. The studies noted the influence of others on

creativity (Bluth et al., 2017; Chapman & Dammeyer, 2017; Chiu et al., 2018).

Based on data on the role of creativity in solving not only educational but also everyday

problems, researchers suggest that the psychological well-being of people with different

levels of creativity will also have different levels (Evans, 2016; Gilligan et al., 2017).

It was found that subjects with different levels of psychological well-being have

differences in such indicators as the general level of uncertainty tolerance, problem

unsolvability (component of uncertainty tolerance), the general level of creativity,

imagination and satisfaction with life.

Numerous correlations between creativity, uncertainty tolerance and components of

psychological well-being were identified in a group of subjects with a high level of

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psychological well-being. For example, the relationship between personal growth and

uncertainty tolerance was identified. This suggests that uncertainty tolerance can help

increase a person’s interest in life through the flexibility of his/her behaviour. He/she will

consider an unusual and ambiguous prospect as an opportunity to show his/her personal

abilities. Improving one’s capabilities and, consequently, uncertainty tolerance can have a

positive effect on personal growth and human development.

Other correlations were also established — Personal Growth has a positive

correlation with creativity; Positive Relationships with other people directly correlate with

creativity; Life Goal indicators positively correlate with creativity. It was also found that

there is a link between uncertainty tolerance and the Autonomy scale.

For the subgroup with average psychological well-being, the correlation between

psychological well-being and uncertainty tolerance was established. In this subgroup, the

overall indicator of uncertainty tolerance directly correlated with the level of creativity. This

subgroup is characterised by the least number of correlations between the studied indicators.

The following correlations are characteristic of a subgroup with low indicators of

psychological well-being: the indicator of life satisfaction in this subgroup and the level of

their creativity by two methods have a negative correlation coefficient; general indicators of

creativity by both methods negatively correlated with the ability to build positive

relationships with others, which indicates the difficulty of this subgroup of people in

building close trusting relationships. A group of people with a low level of psychological

well-being is also characterised by the relationship between such a component of

psychological well-being as Personal Growth and the originality of the answers.

Conclusions

Psychological well-being is an important structural entity that directly correlates

with and has a significant impact on a person’s mental health. Maintaining a sufficiently high

level of psychological well-being ensures the normal functioning of a person, his/her feeling

of happiness and subjective satisfaction with life. The level of psychological well-being

affects all areas of human life — from relationships with others and success at work to inner

integrity and harmony.

However, there are a significant number of factors that have a significant impact on

the formation and functioning of the psychological well-being of an individual. In this article,

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uncertainty tolerance and creativity were considered as important mental formations related

to human mental health. The influence of these components on the psychological well-being

of an individual is theoretically analysed and substantiated. It was empirically proved that

individuals with different levels of psychological well-being have different indicators of

uncertainty tolerance, creativity and their components. Numerous correlations were found

between the indicators of these scales. We consider clarifying the place of creativity and

uncertainty tolerance in the structure of psychological well-being, in particular in different

age groups, and comparing the results to be the prospect for further research.

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