Areeba Bano

Creativity is widely considered to be a core competency for learners and graduates in rapidly changing environments; personality research has identified two dispositions as relevant to creativity repeatedly: openness to experience (OE) and tolerance of ambiguity (TOA). This narrative review examined how OE, TOA and creativity are related (with particular attention to university undergraduates). The review clarifies the three constructs and their measures, summarizes evidence for OE–creativity, TOA–creativity and OE–TOA associations, compares theoretical accounts linking them together and proposes an integrative model in which TOA may explain how openness translates into creative thinking and achievement. Evidence for an OE–creativity link is substantial and comparatively consistent. Evidence for a TOA–creativity link is positive but less strong, relies heavily on self-report, and is concentrated in a small number of research groups. Formal tests of TOA as a mediator were not found. The review closes with methodological recommendations and a research agenda for undergraduate samples, including cross-cultural and longitudinal designs, and with implications for educators who wish to foster creativity as a student strength.

Nurses delivered much of the direct care to COVID-19 patients and were repeatedly exposed to death, infection risk, and shortages of equipment, yet little is known about how Pakistani nurses experienced and managed posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). This qualitative study explored PTSS, experiences of trauma, perceived psychological impact, and coping strategies among nurses who cared for COVID-19 patients during peak pandemic waves. Eight registered nurses working in COVID wards and intensive care units of public hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi were recruited through purposive sampling and took part in individual semi-structured interviews conducted in Urdu and basic English. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. Four themes were generated: (a) symptoms related to trauma (altered sleep, changes in temperament, emotional reactivity, diminished interest in social life, flashbacks); (b) threats and stress due to COVID-19 (increased workload, direct threat to self and others, sense of isolation, lack of knowledge and equipment); (c) psychological impact of trauma (increased mental health concerns, burnout and compassion fatigue, elevated death anxiety, lack of optimism about the future); and (d) strategies to cope (sharing workload with the team, emotional support from colleagues). Seven of eight nurses described flashbacks, and accounts spanned several DSM-5 symptom clusters, although no diagnostic assessment was used. Peer teamwork and emotional support were the only coping resources reported, and no participant had received formal counselling. Peer solidarity seems to have been an informal resource of resilience where organizational support was absent and institutional psychological services should be built around it.