CREATIVITY AND DEVIANCE IN THE UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENT: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL CRITERIA FOR DISTINCTION

The article proposes a theoretically grounded approach that treats creativity and deviation from norms not as identical phenomena but as different trajectories of exploratory activity. A system of criteria for assessing creative and deviant behaviour in the academic setting is substantiated. On this basis, a model is developed that combines the level of creativity and the level of constructive normativity, making it possible to distinguish productive and destructive forms of non-standard behaviour as well as borderline, risk-laden zones where they intersect. The proposed framework allows researchers and practitioners to evaluate not only the external “unconventionality” of behaviour, but above all its value orientation, motivational basis and impact on other participants in the educational process. The findings are used to formulate recommendations for university policy aimed at supporting the professional creativity of academic staff and students while minimising the risk of pathologising creativity under conditions of increasingly normative and audit-driven higher education.