Abstract

1. A community sample (N=61) completed a battery of creativity tasks (remote associates, word association, haiku writing, house drawing, achievement checklist), personality scales (openness, psychoticism, innovation motivation), and an intelligence measure. Openness and innovation motivation each correlated with some creativity tasks, but intelligence was the strongest predictor. Abstract Introduction Discussion Openness and Psychoticism were uncorrelated (r = .04), while Innovation Motivation correlated with both Openness (r = .53) and Psychoticism (r = .26). No personality variable was strongly correlated with intelligence, though both Openness and Innovation Motivation showed weak positive trends. Table 1: Correlations Between Personality/Intelligence and Creative Behaviors Innovation Openness to Intelligence/ MotivationExperiencePsychoticismReasoning House Proficiency .19+.13 .23* .32** Originality .25* .26* .10 .42*** Odd Details .03 .03 .08 .42*** Poem Proficiency .04 .18+-.10 .41*** Originality .12 .22* -.11 .42*** Remote Associates .23* -.01 -.19+ .09 Unusual Assoc. -.09 .07 .17+ .26* CAQ Abilities.24* .16 .23* .30** Achievements .37** .49*** .14 .31** Note: + p<.10; * p<.05; ** p<.01; *** p<.001. Significance tests are directional (one-tailed) Figure 2 Sample Items from the Remote Associates Test The three words on the left are each associated with one other word. Identify that fourth word. Stimulus WordsAnswer CREAM SKATE WATER (ICE) RIVER NOTE ACCOUNT (BANK) OPERA HAND DISH ________ WORM SHELF END ________ Figure 4: Sample House Drawings For further information contact: sjoy@albertus.edu Many studies have examined the contributions of personality to creativity. Among the high-level personality traits identified through factor analysis of self-reports, Openness to Experience (McCrae) and Psychoticism (Eysenck) have most frequently been linked with creative behavior. Several recent studies (Joy) also point to innovation motivation (especially the need to be different) as an important predictor of creativity. The role played by intelligence in creativity is controversial. Some argue that intelligence is a gatekeeper: below a threshold level, creative achievement is unlikely. Others argue that creative thinking abilities are basically unrelated to those measured by intelligence tests. Several techniques have been used to measure creativity. Prominent among these are: the divergent thinking approach, which equates creativity with the generation of many unusual or original ideas, the creative products approach, in which samples of creative behavior such as drawings or stories are rated by expert judges, and the creative achievements approach, which basically measures how much “real-life” creativity a person has displayed. Few studies have compared the predictive power of different personality variables or included both intelligence and personality. Fewer still have utilized multiple creativity measures. This study does both. Most previous studies use undergraduate samples; this one used a diverse community sample. Each personality variable predicted some forms of creative behavior, though results were weaker for Psychoticism than for Openness or the need to be different. Intelligence showed a more consistent pattern of significant correlations. Thus, although the results are consistent with previous research on personality’s role in creativity, the relative contribution of personality is somewhat smaller than usual, while that of intelligence is somewhat larger. This is most likely due to the fact that previous research involved intellectually homogeneous samples of college undergraduates or working professionals. The resulting range restriction led researchers to underestimate the importance of intelligence to creativity. The present sample, being more variable, allowed the relationship to emerge more clearly. Figure 3: Sample “American Haiku” Poems Starting with a stimulus word (here, NIGHT), generate descriptive adjectives, verbs, and a statement. High Creativity 22-year-old FemaleLow Creativity 25-year-old Female Night Night Mysterious, sinful Dark, cold Infiltrate, destroy, rebuild Rest, sleep, dream Brings forth another side of people A new day is coming soon Night Night Results Participants (N=61) were recruited in the community. Mean age was 35.2 (SD=11.9); 67% were female; 70% were white; education ranged from high school to doctoral degrees. Three personality scales, one intelligence test, and five measures of creativity were administered: Openness to Experience, one of the “Big Five” traits. People high in Openness tend to be curious and willing to try unfamiliar experiences; those low in Openness tend to be more traditional and conservative in their views. Psychoticism, described by Eysenck. People high in Psychoticism tend to be egocentric, cold, impulsive, and aggressive; very high levels are associated with serious personality problems, but moderately high levels have been linked with creativity. The need to be different (innovation motivation), described by Joy, refers to the extent to which people are intrinsically motivated to try new approaches to life even when the existing approaches work. Intelligence was measured using the first 25 items of the Abstract Reasoning subtest of the Differential Aptitude Test. A 45-item word association test, scored such that less common associations received more points. Unusual word associations are often used as a proxy for creative, or at least peculiar, thinking. Figure 1 shows sample items. A 20-item remote associates test(goal: to identify a single word associated with each of three stimulus words). This derives from Mednick’s theory of creativity. Figure 2 shows sample items. “American Haiku” poem. This is a standard writing exercise loosely based on the haiku tradition. The poems were rated for command of English and originality by 3 secondary school teachers. Figure 3 shows sample poems. House Drawing. Sometimes used as a personality test, these house drawings were treated as samples of creative behavior. They were rated for technical proficiency and originality by 3 art educators. Also, an originality score was derived by counting the number of uncommon details in each drawing. Figure 4 shows sample drawings. The Creative Achievements Questionnaire, a checklist in two parts: self-reported talents and actual creative accomplishments across a variety of domains (art, music, writing, science, cookery, and so forth). Figure 1 Sample Items from the Quick Word Association Test (QWAT) The test-taker is instructed to write down the first word called to mind by each stimulus word. A total of 45 associations are generated in just a few minutes FOOT ________ PARROT ________ BEE________ SNOW ________ ALE________ HARBOR ________ GOWN________ Method AlbertusMagnus College Stephen P. Joy, Ph.D.; Kathleen Aldrich; Christina Buttner; Erica Damiata; Tonya Deloatch; Rebecca Ludwig; Venita Perrin; & Raven Turquoise-Moon Personality, Intelligence and Creativity in a Community Sample