More Creative Activities, Lower Creative Ability: Exploring an Unexpected PISA Finding

ABSTRACT Creative activities are typically thought to be positively associated with creative ability, whether because more creative individuals select into creative activities, or because those activities support the development of creativity, or both. However, the PISA 2022 creative thinking report revealed an unexpected finding: Creative ability was negatively associated with creative activities. Here, we theoretically address why this surprising finding may have occurred from both a measurement and a psychological perspective. On the measurement side of the issue, both the creative thinking assessment and the activities questionnaire appeared to have potential issues with content and construct validity. For instance, the response coding on the creative thinking assessment appeared to emphasize the utility of ideas over originality, and the general creative ability score may not have effectively captured the domain‐specific thinking processes learned during creative activities. In addition, the response options on the activities questionnaire seemed to lack sufficient granularity, making it difficult to infer the quality and quantity of the activities. Additionally, it could be posited that the creative activities were insufficiently scaffolded for learning, not motivating for highly creative teenagers, or that the skills and benefits acquired through these activities failed to transfer effectively to the creative thinking outcome measure.