RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CREATIVITY AND INTELLIGENCE ON PERFORMANCE OF ECONOMICS STUDENTS OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated the relationship between creativity and intelligence on performance of Economics students of secondary schools in Benue State, Nigeria. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. Population comprises of all 21,333 students offering Economics from 27 public secondary school in Benue State, Nigeria, and 377 were used as a sample size of the study. Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and Standardized IQ test (Scores from Economics examinations) were used as instruments for data collection. The TTCT and Standardized IQ were validated and pilot tested, which yielded 0.79, 078 validity indexes for TTCT and Standardized IQ. In addition, the reliability indexes of 0.76 and 0.79 for TTCT and Standardized IQ. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer research question, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis was used for testing hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that, there is no significant relationship between creativity, performance of students offering Economics, there is a significant relationship between intelligence and performance of students offering Economics, and there is a significant relationship between creativity, intelligence and performance of students offering Economics secondary schools in Benue State. The study recommended that, schools should incorporate creative teaching strategies, organize workshops for teachers, and adopt comprehensive assessment methods to evaluate both intelligence and creativity, promoting a broader approach to academic excellence in Economics.