Abstract
Although a theoretical link between positive schizotypy and heightened creativity has been established in the literature, little empirical research has been conducted to examine the underlying cognitive processes that contribute to this association. In addition, previous studies found a negative relationship between positive schizotypy and cognitive inhibition; however, they often used the paradigm of latent inhibition. This study used the paradigm of prepotent response inhibition indicated by Stroop interference effect and examined the mediation effects of overinclusive thinking (OT) and cognitive inhibition on the creativity of schizotypal individuals. Two groups of low and high schizotypal individuals (N = 78) participated in the study. Each participant completed one OT task, one color-word Stroop task, three other executive functioning (EF) control tasks, and two creativity tasks. The results indicated that the high schizotypal group outperformed the low schizotypal group in the creativity tasks. They also exhibited higher OT as indicated by faster reaction time and higher cognitive inhibition as indicated by lower Stroop interference effect. Further, participant’s levels of OT and cognitive inhibition partially mediated the relationship between schizotypy and creativity. The results were discussed under the context of schizotypy and creativity research and implications for rehabitation were further provided.
Highlights
The relationship between psychopathology and creativity has been a topic of interest for researchers over the last five decades (Karlsson, 1970; Hasenfus and Magaro, 1976)
The results indicated that high schizotypy group scored significantly higher in originality of Alternate Uses Test (AUT) [t(76) = 2.01, p = 0.048, Cohen’s d = 0.46] and marginally significantly higher in fluency of AUT [t(76) = 1.90, p = 0.062, Cohen’s d = 0.43] than the low schizotypy group
The current study examined the relationship among schizotypy, creativity, overinclusive thinking (OT), and cognitive inhibition ability and found that high schizotypal individuals performed better on creativity tasks and had higher OT and cognitive inhibition
Summary
The relationship between psychopathology and creativity has been a topic of interest for researchers over the last five decades (Karlsson, 1970; Hasenfus and Magaro, 1976). Researchers have consistently suggested that, overall, there is a statistically significant correlation between the two variables; the direction and strength of the relationship depends on many factors, such as the specific symptoms of psychopathology, measures of creativity, and types of creativity (Jones et al, 2011; Fink et al, 2014a; Paek et al, 2016; Taylor, 2017). Some researchers have indicated a negative relationship between the two variables, that is, less severe symptoms of psychopathology are significantly correlated with higher level of creativity (Claridge and Blakey, 2009; Barrantes-Vidal, 2014; Fink et al, 2014a). Previous studies have revealed that those having schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or unipolar depression and their relatives were overrepresented in creative occupations and that those with schizophrenia show more artistic and writing creativity (Kyaga et al, 2011, 2013; Rybakowski and Klonowska, 2011)
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