0067 Dreams and Personality Influence Creativity

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Theoretically, during dreaming, weak associations are explored, and information is combined in novel ways, which could lead to increased creativity during waking. However, little research has explored direct relationships between dreaming and objective measures of creativity and the ability to creatively solve problems. Furthermore, personality influences dream recall frequency (DRF) and other aspects of dreaming, suggesting that the relationship between dreaming and creativity may vary based on personality. The goal of the current experiment was to determine if DRF is related to creativity and creative problem-solving, and if these relationships are influenced by personality traits. Methods Seventy-six participants completed questionnaires about dreaming and the Big 5 personality traits (neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness, extraversion, agreeableness) and completed creativity and creative problem-solving tasks. Two tasks measured creativity. In one task, participants generated as many possible uses for an object as they could in one minute. In the other, they generated novel captions for five cartoons. Creative problem-solving was measured using two classic insight problem sets: the matchstick and compound remote associates tasks. Correlations were conducted to determine if DRF is related to any personality traits and multiple regressions were conducted to determine whether DRF or any personality traits predict creativity or creative problem-solving. Results DRF was negatively correlated with agreeableness, such that individuals higher in agreeableness recalled fewer dreams. The multiple regression analyses revealed that both DRF and conscientiousness are significant predictors of divergent thinking. Neither DRF nor any personality traits predicted creative problem-solving. Conclusion These results indicate that agreeableness reduces the frequency of dream recall, perhaps because agreeable individuals try to find problem solutions immediately while awake so they do not worry about them later. Consistent with current theories, frequently recalling dreams increased creativity, suggesting that the exploration of weak or novel relationships during dreaming increases creativity while awake. Conscientiousness also predicted creativity, suggesting that self-sufficient people tend to be more creative. However, frequently recalling dreams did not increase the ability to creatively solve problems. Collectively, these results suggest that personality influences dreaming behaviors and that frequent dreaming and conscientiousness promote creativity. Support (if any)