Protestantism, Judaism, and Turning Repressed Emotions Into Great Art

www.psmag.com: It has long been theorized that repressed anger or forbidden sexual desire can be a creative catalyst. After all, one way to exorcise internal tensions is to channel them into art. Provocative new research supports that notion, while cautioning that it isn’t universally true. Three University of Illinois psychologists present evidence that this equation only applies to Protestants—or, perhaps, people raised in a Protestant-dominated culture. According to researchers Emily Kim, Veronika Zeppenfeld, and Dov Cohen, Jews and Catholics have a less-productive way of responding to uncomfortable thoughts and feelings: guilt.