A Gender-Fair Look at Variability in Creativity: Growth in Variability Over a Period Versus Gender Comparison at a Time Point

Using two normative datasets of the Wallach-Kogan Creativity Tests (WKCT), variability in creativity was studied in terms of growth over a period and gender comparison at a time point. New indices were introduced to tap growth in variability for men and women and new results were obtained for the growth in variability of various creative abilities measured by the WKCT. It was found that both male variability and female variability increased with time in both verbal and figural fluency, flexibility, uniqueness, and unusualness. For gender comparison of variability at a time point, the widely accepted gender-difference variance ratio was employed. In line with previous cognitive-intellectual research findings, results of this study showed that the Greater Male Variability Hypothesis had supportive evidence from responses to figural stimuli but not responses to verbal stimuli of the WKCT. The findings and the advantages of the new indices were discussed.