Boundless Creativity: Evidence for the Domain Generality of Individual Differences in Creativity

This study investigated correlates of domain‐general and domain‐specific components of creativity. 158 college students completed a questionnaire that assessed their motivational and personality traits (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, creative personality, and originality in word association) as well as intellectual abilities (SAT verbal and quantitative scores). Under two different instruction conditions (standard instruction or explicit “be creative” instruction), students also took a battery of multi‐item, product‐based tests of creativity in three domains (artistic, verbal, and mathematical creativity). Factor analyses showed evidence of domain‐generality of creativity. Furthermore, results from structural equation models showed that motivational and personality traits and intellectual abilities were associated with the domain‐general component of creativity. Only one variable (SAT quantitative score) was found to be associated with the domain‐specific component of mathematical creativity under the explicit “be creative” instruction condition. These results affirm the domain‐generality of creativity and challenge researchers to identify correlates of domain‐specific components of creativity.     

The Secret Lives of Liberals and Conservatives: Personality Profiles,Interaction Styles,and the Things They Leave Behind

Although skeptics continue to doubt that most people are “ideological,” evidence suggests that meaningful left‐right differences do exist and that they may be rooted in basic personality dispositions, that is, relatively stable individual differences in psychological needs, motives, and orientations toward the world. Seventy‐five years of theory and research on personality and political orientation has produced a long list of dispositions, traits, and behaviors. Applying a theory of ideology as motivated social cognition and a “Big Five” framework, we find that two traits, Openness to New Experiences and Conscientiousness, parsimoniously capture many of the ways in which individual differences underlying political orientation have been conceptualized. In three studies we investigate the relationship between personality and political orientation using multiple domains and measurement techniques, including: self‐reported personality assessment; nonverbal behavior in the context of social interaction; and personal possessions and the characteristics of living and working spaces. We obtained consistent and converging evidence that personality differences between liberals and conservatives are robust, replicable, and behaviorally significant, especially with respect to social (vs. economic) dimensions of ideology. In general, liberals are more open‐minded, creative, curious, and novelty seeking, whereas conservatives are more orderly, conventional, and better organized.     

Creative style,personality, and artistic endeavor

Research has shown that creative style, as measured by the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI; M. J. Kirton, 1976), is correlated with more than 30 different personality traits. In this article, the author demonstrates that many of these correlations can be understood within the framework of the Five-Factor Model of personality and shows that the predominant correlates of creative style are personality indicators in the domains of the factors Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, and, to a lesser extent, Extraversion. These findings provide a basis for comparing the personality traits associated with creative style and occupational creativity. High scorers on the KAI (innovators) differ from both average and creative scientists but have personality characteristics similar to those of artists. This finding suggests that the artistic personality may be more common than is generally supposed and that common factors might underlie both artistic endeavor and creative style.     

Toward an Integrative Model of Creativity and Personality: Theoretical Suggestions and Preliminary Empirical Testing

The present work proposes an integrative model of creativity that includes personality traits and cognitive processes. This model hypothesizes that three high‐order personality factors predict two main process factors, which in turn predict intensity and achievement of creative activities. The personality factors are: Plasticity (high openness, extraversion, energy, and inspiration), Divergence (low agreeableness and conscientiousness, high non‐conformity and impulsivity), and Convergence (high ambition, precision, persistence, and critical sense). The process factors are Generation (idea production and originality) and Selection (idea evaluation and formalization). We hypothesized and found that: (a) Plasticity and Divergence predict positively Generation, (b) Convergence predicts positively Selection, (c) Generation, Selection, and their interaction predict positively both intensity and achievement of everyday creative activities.     

A Big‐Five Personality Profile of the Adaptor and Innovator

This study explored the relationship between two creative styles (adaptor and innovator) and the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience). 164 teachers from 3 secondary and 2 primary schools in Singapore completed a self‐report questionnaire, which consisted of the Kirton Adaption‐Innovation Inventory and the NEO‐Five Factor Inventory. It was found that adaptors were significantly more conscientious than innovators, while innovators were significantly more extraverted and open to experience than adaptors. No significant differences were found between adaptors and innovators in neuroticism and agreeableness. The study also revealed a meaningful pattern of relationships between the Big Five personality traits and the three facet scales of the KAI. Specifically, Sufficiency of Originality was negatively correlated with Openness to Experience and Extraversion; Rule Governance was positively correlated with conscientiousness but negatively correlated with openness to experience; Efficiency was positively correlated with conscientiousness. The overall findings supported the fundamental contention that different creative styles were due to different combinations of personality traits, with adaptors being more conscientious, while innovators being more extraverted and open to experience. These personality‐based differences in creative styles between adaptors and innovators had resulted in much social conflict between them. One way of resolving it is to make known the nature and value of different creative styles to these two different types of creators.     

The Adaptable Mind in Design: Relating Personality,Cognitive Style,and Creative Performance

This study examined domain-specific relationships between creative personality traits, cognitive styles, and creative performance in design. Design students (n = 39) completed the Adjective Check List (ACL) and the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) to gauge personality and cognitive style, respectively. The ACL was scored using Domino's Creativity Scale (ACL-Cr) to identify creative personality traits. The sample also completed a design task that was evaluated for creativity using the Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT). Findings indicated that participants showing flexibility between cerebral, limbic, right, and left modes of thinking had significantly higher mean scores on creative personality than did those who exhibited a more entrenched cognitive style. Creative personality traits (ACL-Cr) significantly predicted creative performance on the design task. While cognitive style (HBDI) did not predict creative performance, flexibility between styles was significantly correlated to the creative personality. In sum, individuals exhibiting adaptable thinking appear to possess the flexibility necessary to design creatively and potentially transform the domain with original and imaginative solutions.     

Creativity: An interdisciplinary perspective

A number of research traditions have contributed to an emerging picture of creative individuals, processes, and achievements. Psychometric instruments have documented the absence of correlations, above a threshold, between measured intelligence and creativity; computer simulations and “on‐line” studies of human subjects indicate that creative problem solving draws on the same information‐processing skills as everyday problem solving; case studies reveal that creative individ‐uals pursue a network of interrelated enterprises over the course of their productive lives and that most creative insights emerge gradually. Creative individuals exemplify a predictable set of personality traits and are motivated chiefly by intrinsic factors. Sociological and historiometric approaches document the conditions under which creative products are likely to emerge within a given society, and neurobiological perspectives suggest that certain neural structures and processes may be particularly associated with creative out‐comes. A science of creativity is most likely to emerge from a synthesis of these different disciplinary perspectives.     

Creativity Research: More Studies,Greater Sophistication and the Importance of “Big” Questions

In the past 20 years, there has been a strong and steady increase in the number of publications concerned with creativity and in the number of outlets for that work. More importantly, there has been an increase in the level of detail and sophistication of answers provided for the most fundamental questions in the field. We illustrate that phenomenon with a focus on personality traits and cognitive processes. We anticipate that the trends will continue in the future and urge that progress continue to be guided by the “big” questions of what creative people are like and how creative ideas are generated. Beyond progress in distinct research areas, such as personality and cognition, future progress is likely to grow from recent attempts to integrate across the areas.     

A theoretical basis for the major dimensions of personality

We argue that lexical studies of personality structure suggest the existence of six major dimensions of personality: (I) Surgency, (II) Agreeableness, (III) Conscientiousness, (IV) Emotional Stability, (V) Intellect/Imagination, and (VI) Honesty. We then propose a two‐part theoretical basis for these dimensions. First, Honesty and rotated variants of Agreeableness and Emotional Stability are interpreted in terms of three traits—fairness/non‐exploitation, forgiveness/non‐retaliation, and empathy/attachment—that underlie prosocial versus antisocial tendencies. Second, the Surgency, Conscientiousness, and Intellect/Imagination factors are interpreted as traits that involve active engagement within three domains of endeavour—social, task‐related, and idea‐related endeavour. Predictions that follow from these interpretations are tested and found to be supported. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Creating Through Deviancy or Adjustment? The Link between Personality Profile Normativeness and Creativity

Does deviancy or adjustment predict creativity? To address this question, we tested the association between personality profile normativeness (similarity between one's personality profile and the average profile—a proxy for the deviancy–adjustment continuum) and creativity across four different samples (total N = 348 768). We used a wide range of creativity measures, including self‐reported, informant‐reported, behavioural, and occupational creativity, as well as several essential statistical controls (i.e., demographics, socio‐economic background, intelligence, and life satisfaction). Furthermore, we employed both cross‐sectional and longitudinal designs, including samples of college students and representative adult populations. We found that people who had more normative personality profiles were more creative. However, this association only held within modality (i.e. when both personality and creativity were either self‐reported or informant‐reported). We did not find robust associations between personality profile normativeness and laboratory‐based behavioural measures of creativity, occupational creativity, or creative achievements. We discuss alternative explanations for the observed adjustment–creativity link, specifically, implicit theories of creativity and person perception biases (halo effects). Notably, the findings did not support the idea that deviancy breeds creativity, suggesting that the famed ‘mad genius’ hypothesis might not hold among the general population. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Creative Activity,Personality, Mental Illness,and Short‐Term Mating Success

It has been argued that creativity evolved, at least in part, through sexual selection to attract mates. Recent research lends support to this view and has also demonstrated a link between certain dimensions of schizotypy, creativity, and short‐term mating. The current study delves deeper into these relationships by focusing on engagement in creative activity and employing an expansive set of personality and mental health measures (Five Factor Model, schizotypy, anxiety, and depression). A general tendency to engage in everyday forms of creative activity was related to number of sexual partners within the past year in males only. Furthermore, schizotypy, anxiety, and Neuroticism were all indirectly related to short‐term mating success, again for males only. The study provides additional support for predictions made by sexual selection theory that men have a higher drive for creative display, and that creativity is linked with higher short‐term mating success. The study also provides support for the contention that certain forms of mental illness may still exist in the gene pool because particular personality traits associated with milder forms of mental illness (i.e., Neuroticism & schizotypy) are also associated directly with creativity and indirectly with short‐term mating success.     

Creative Self‐Efficacy and Innovative Behavior in a Service Setting: Optimism as a Moderator

Creativity research on the personality approach has focused on the relationship between individual attributes and innovative behavior. However, few studies have empirically examined the effects of positive psychological traits on innovative behavior in an organizational setting. This study examines the relationships among creative self‐efficacy, optimism, and innovative behavior as well as the moderating effect of optimism. Longitudinal data across two periods were collected from 120 spa employees of a diet and beauty salon company in Taiwan. After controlling for the effects of job tenure and the Big Five personality traits, this study found that employees with a high level of creative self‐efficacy demonstrate a high level of innovative behavior at work, and optimism does not have a direct effect on employees' innovative behavior, but it does play a moderating role. When employees' creative self‐efficacy is high, those with greater optimism exhibit greater innovative behavior at work. Toward the end, this paper offers suggestions for future research and discusses the practical implications of this study.     

Cinemusical meanings in motion pictures: commerce,art, and Brando loyalty … or … De Niro,My God,To Thee

• The theme of art‐versus‐commerce has surfaced in many motion pictures but serves here to juxtapose three otherwise disparate films that draw upon the power of jazz as a force toward the dramatic development of character, plot, central themes, and other cinemusical meanings. Specifically, via the significance of its ambi‐diegetic music, New York, New York (1977) shows the elevation of artistic integrity (Robert De Niro as Jimmy Doyle) over commercialism (Liza Minnelli as Francine Evans). In Heart Beat (1980), the raw honesty of a committed‐but‐doomed creative genius (Art Pepper) provides nondiegetic music that signifies the self‐destructive degradation of a key protagonist (Nick Nolte as Neal Cassady). Finally, in The Score (2001), the appealing nature of diegetic jazz in a cinemusically‐enriched nightclub environment helps to explain why a soon‐to‐be‐ reformed criminal (Robert De Niro, again, as Nick Wells) would risk everything in collaboration with two bizarre partners (Marlon Brando as Max Baron and Ed Norton as Jack Teller) in hopes of a payoff big enough to allow him to retire from a lucrative career in crime in order to run his legitimate jazz venue and to settle down with his true love (Angela Bassett as Diane Boesman).

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality and Creativity: The Dual Pathway to Creativity Model and a Research Agenda

To better understand the relation between personality traits and creativity, we invoke the Dual‐Pathway to Creativity model (DPCM) that identifies two pathways to creative outcomes: (1) flexible processing of information (cognitive flexibility) and (2) persistent probing, and systematically and incrementally combining elements and possibilities (cognitive persistence). DPCM further proposes that dispositional or situational variables may influence creativity through either their effects on flexibility or persistence. Here, we propose the idea that approach‐related traits (e.g., openness to experience, extraversion, positive affectivity, and power‐motivation) may lead to greater creativity because they link to enhanced cognitive flexibility, whereas avoidance‐related traits (e.g., negative affectivity and neuroticism) under the right circumstances may lead to greater creativity because they link to enhanced cognitive persistence. Empirical support for this proposition is discussed, and a research agenda for future work on personality and creativity is set.     

The Contribution of Personality Traits,Motivation, Academic Risk-Taking and Metacognition to the Creative Ability in Mathematics

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which personality traits, motivation, academic risk-taking, and metacognition explain the mathematical creative ability of high school students. The participants were 217 9th-grade students that were exceptionally high achievers. The participants responded to a set of measures about personality traits, motivation, academic risk-taking, metacognition, and creative ability in mathematics. The results revealed that although openness to experience and consciousness were significantly correlated with creative ability in mathematics, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism were not correlated with the creativity scores. Moreover, intrinsic goal orientation followed by openness to experience was the most significant predictor of mathematical creative ability. Academic risk-taking was not significantly correlated with creative ability. Although knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition showed moderate correlations with creative ability in mathematics, they failed to predict creative ability.     

大学生心理健康、创造性人格与创造力关系的模型建构

通过问卷法对我国八大行政区10所不同类型学校的1043名大学生进行调查研究。从创造性思维和创造性人格多侧面认识大学生创造力的特点,从医学模式以及人格角度了解大学生心理健康的状况,在此基础上,借助现代统计技术———结构方程模型,揭示心理健康、个性和创造力之间的关系;将创造力作为内源潜变量,心理健康和创造性人格作为外源潜变量,三者构成的结构模型是可以接受的,该模型表明,大学生的创造力受其创造性人格和心理健康的积极影响。     

The Hierarchical Personality Structure of Aspiring Creative Writers

Empirical studies of personality traits in creative writers have demonstrated mixed findings, perhaps due to issues of sampling, measurement, and the reporting of statistical information. The goal of this study is to quantify the personality structure of aspiring creative writers according to a modern hierarchal model of trait personality. A sample of aspiring writers (n = 93) and nonwriters (n = 114) completed the Big Five inventory. Correlations with personality were carried out at three levels: the Big Five traits, the two higher-order factors (stability and plasticity), and the more detailed facet-level. Consistent with past research, creative writers scored higher on trait openness. Extending past work, the hierarchical analysis also revealed novel correlates for the higher-order meta-traits (stability and plasticity) and some of the lower-order facets (aesthetics, ideas, activity, assertiveness, and depression). Individuals with higher scores on agreeableness, stability, and assertiveness were less likely to be aspiring writers. The likelihood of being a writer also decreased with age. Taken together, these findings indicate that aspiring creative writers differ from nonwriters in trait personality, with differences emerging at all levels of the personality hierarchy.