Creativity and the Five-Factor Model

Abstract

This study examined the relations among the five-factor model of personality, creative ability, and creative accomplishments. Seventy-five subjects completed measures of verbal creative ability and openness to experience and listed their creative accomplishments. Openness to experience and extraversion were positively correlated with creative ability, controlling for measures of academic ability. Agreeableness was negatively correlated with creative accomplishments. Both verbal creativity and openness had significant positive correlations with creative accomplishments. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that these relations were qualified by significant creative ability by openness and creative ability by conscientiousness interactions. At high levels of openness, creative ability shared a positive linear relation with accomplishments. Individuals high in creative ability but low on openness to experience reported relatively few creative accomplishments. In contrast, conscientiousness was related to heightened accomplishments by individuals low in creative talent. Results are interpreted as illustrating the interplay of abilities and traits in promoting creative behavior.