Current research into gender differences in creativity is inconclusive. The majority of research into creativity stems from Guilford’s (1950) work. Although it, marginally, infers a relationship between gender and creativity, there is evidence to the contrary, such as Goldsmith and Matherly (1998) and Henderson (2003).
Creativity is the ability to exhibit creative behaviour to a noteworthy degree (Guilford, 1950). Guildford identified several key principles of creativity (fluency and flexibility). Fluency is a measure based on the number of ideas (Guildford, 1950). Frequency is the rate of occurrence of novel, uncommon or original ideas (Guildford, 1950). Gender is defined as the personal sexual identity of an individual (REFERENCE) Research …show more content…
Examples of such tests are the Product improvement task and the Ununsual uses tests. Divergent thinking is defined as an idea generating process wherein an individual is faced with problems or questions for which there is not just one answer (Guilford, 1950; Runco et al.,2006). Literature suggests that an individual’s background traits possess influence on creativity (Ai, 1999; Batey & Furnham, 2006). These traits consist of age, genetics and gender (Charyton, 2006). It is, therefore hypothesized that gender is influential towards, creativity, divergent thinking. Lin, Hsu, Chen & Wang (2012) tested the effects of gender on creativity. In their study, 320 undergraduate students were measured using a divergent thinking task, consisting of three subtests: a verbal test and two figural tests. Participant’s scores were measured for fluency and flexibility. Their study found that females performed better in both fluency and flexibility. Meaning that gender had a small effect on …show more content…
Participants were instructed to complete the tasks, in a quiet place, where they could not be disturbed. Participants completed the third, unrelated test first. Participants’ then took a five-minute break. Participants then completed the UUT in five minutes. Participants took a few minutes break. Then the PIT was undertaken, in five minutes. Tests were collected; the results calculated and put in into a scatterplot.
Results
An independent samples t-test found a small but significant difference in creativity (measured by the unusual uses task) between male (M = 9.98, SD = 7.20) and female (M = 12.50, SD = 6.47) participants, t (301) = 3.00, p= .003, d= 0.35, with females scoring higher than males. An independent samples t-test found a small but significant difference in creativity (measured by the product improvement task) between male (M = 9.38, SD = 5.02) and female (M = 11.73, SD = 6.15) participants, t (301) = 3.20, p= .002, d= 0.37, with females scoring higher than males.
Creativity is the ability to exhibit creative behaviour to a noteworthy degree (Guilford, 1950). Guildford identified several key principles of creativity (fluency and flexibility). Fluency is a measure based on the number of ideas (Guildford, 1950). Frequency is the rate of occurrence of novel, uncommon or original ideas (Guildford, 1950). Gender is defined as the personal sexual identity of an individual (REFERENCE) Research …show more content…
Examples of such tests are the Product improvement task and the Ununsual uses tests. Divergent thinking is defined as an idea generating process wherein an individual is faced with problems or questions for which there is not just one answer (Guilford, 1950; Runco et al.,2006). Literature suggests that an individual’s background traits possess influence on creativity (Ai, 1999; Batey & Furnham, 2006). These traits consist of age, genetics and gender (Charyton, 2006). It is, therefore hypothesized that gender is influential towards, creativity, divergent thinking. Lin, Hsu, Chen & Wang (2012) tested the effects of gender on creativity. In their study, 320 undergraduate students were measured using a divergent thinking task, consisting of three subtests: a verbal test and two figural tests. Participant’s scores were measured for fluency and flexibility. Their study found that females performed better in both fluency and flexibility. Meaning that gender had a small effect on …show more content…
Participants were instructed to complete the tasks, in a quiet place, where they could not be disturbed. Participants completed the third, unrelated test first. Participants’ then took a five-minute break. Participants then completed the UUT in five minutes. Participants took a few minutes break. Then the PIT was undertaken, in five minutes. Tests were collected; the results calculated and put in into a scatterplot.
Results
An independent samples t-test found a small but significant difference in creativity (measured by the unusual uses task) between male (M = 9.98, SD = 7.20) and female (M = 12.50, SD = 6.47) participants, t (301) = 3.00, p= .003, d= 0.35, with females scoring higher than males. An independent samples t-test found a small but significant difference in creativity (measured by the product improvement task) between male (M = 9.38, SD = 5.02) and female (M = 11.73, SD = 6.15) participants, t (301) = 3.20, p= .002, d= 0.37, with females scoring higher than males.