Structure of Creativity: An Investigation on a Latent Structure of Thirteen Measures of Creativity

The assessment of creativity in education is important because it allows educators to recognize and nurture students’ creative potential. Many measures tap into Individual differences, such as cognitive tests; estimates of one’s own individual characteristics (self-reported creativity); and inventories of previous creative behaviours. Such measures can estimate creativity in general or in specifically defined domains (e.g., in science and art). However, previous research has indicated poor construct validity which indicates that inter-relationships between different measures are inconclusive. The present study investigated latent component structure among thirteen creativity measures (three cognitive tasks, two behavioural inventories and eight self-reported questionnaires) in a sample of 188 English speaking adults. The results suggested a multidimensional structure of creativity, comprising six components explaining 74% of the variance of individual differences in this construct. Measures of previous creative behaviours (creative activity and creative achievement measures) were not strongly associated with any general creativity measures (self-reported or cognitive tests); but were associated with self-reported domain-specific visual and verbal creativity. Furthermore, out of five self-reported creativity domains (scientific, social, visual, verbal and sports), only social creativity was associated with any general creativity measures; it was associated with two cognitive creativity measures. General creativity measures (cognitive tests and self-reports), as well as behavioural inventories, loaded on three separate components. The results support a view of creativity as a multidimensional construct which needs to be considered when making inferences based on performance in specific creativity measures.