The Relationship Between Mathematical Creativity and Mathematical Giftedness

This article highlights a comparison of mathematical creativity and mathematical giftedness, two often conflated yet distinct, constructs. The purpose is to provide clarity so that scholars in the fields of mathematical creativity and mathematical giftedness have a discussion in which similarities and differences between the two constructs exist. In identifying similarities and delineating differences, researchers will be at an advantage in targeting their efforts towards (a) mathematical creativity, (b) mathematical giftedness, or (c) the intersection of mathematical creativity and giftedness. Additionally, delineating similarities and differences may help psychometric experts in developing accurate instrumentation. An ancillary objective is parsing the two terms, mitigating the effect of them being used interchangeably in subsequent publications, research, and discussions when they should not be used in reference to distinct constructs. Similarities and differences are discussed based on the literature. One admonition suggests that the two psychological constructs are notably fuzzy.