Search

The purpose of the research was to investigate gender similarities and differences in general creativity constructs with their preferences for creative persons. Data were collected from 247 participants (87 engineering, 24 psychology students with a psychology major, 51 psychology students with a major other than psychology, 30 English, and 55 music students) from a large Mideastern Big 10 university. All participants completed measures of general creativity (creative personality, creative temperament and cognitive risk tolerance) and a demographic questionnaire with the request to list 10 creative persons and their given field. Results indicated that males and females tended to have similar levels of general creativity, yet the most frequently listed creative eminent persons tended to be male. The most frequently listed creative person selections were in science and art, with the three most frequently selected eminent persons being in the science domains. The most frequent creative person selections, consistently selected by at least 10 participants, were Caucasian males. (Contains 3 tables.)

Positive psychology explores how optimism can lead to health, happiness, and creativity. However, questions remain as to how affective states influence creativity. Data on creative personality, optimism, pessimism, positive and negative affect, and current and usual happiness ratings were collected on 161 college students enrolled in an introductory psychology class. Results indicated that both positive and negative affect, usual self-reported happiness ratings, and pessimism contributed to a creative personality in college students. Demographic characteristics such as gender, age, and class level were also factors. Males, younger students, and higher academic level college students displayed more creative personality characteristics. Findings suggest that both positive and negative attributes influence creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychology and engineering faculty developed a new assessment tool to measure creativity in engineering design (Creative Engineering Design Assessment or CEDA). Fifty-eight engineering students (52 men and 6 women) and 59 psychology students (27 men and 32 women) completed the CEDA as well as other general creativity measures (creative personality, creativity temperament, and cognitive risk tolerance). Interrater reliability for the overall CEDA was high (r = .98). On average, men and women displayed similar levels of creative personality, cognitive risk tolerance, and engineering creativity (CEDA scores). However, the CEDA scores exhibited a cross-over interaction between academic class (engineering and psychology) and gender. Women displayed more creativity temperament. Intertest correlations indicate that the CEDA is different from the other general creativity measures. These results suggest that engineering design creativity may be a specialized skill that needs to be honed in engineering students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]