Gender Differences In Creativity Research Articles

Looking inside the black box of gender differences in creativity: A dual-process model and meta-analysis.

Although prior work has characterized creativity as a primarily agentic endeavor, we diverge from this perspective and argue for agentic and communal pathways to creativity that offer unique advantages to each gender. We draw from social role theory to predict that risk-taking and empathic tendencies-as agentic and communal mechanisms, respectively-help explain how gender influences creativity. We also identify contextual moderators that can strengthen the communal pathway-predicting a more positive relationship between empathic tendency and creativity as well as a stronger indirect effect via empathic tendency when the tasks demand perspective-taking and when usefulness is explicitly incorporated in creativity assessment. With a meta-analysis of 753 independent samples (265,762 individuals), we find support for a communal pathway (i.e., women are creative via empathic tendency) and for an agentic pathway (i.e., men are creative via risk-taking tendency). We also find that the communal pathway is stronger when usefulness is explicitly incorporated in creativity assessment. Task demands for perspective-taking did not show a moderating effect. Taken together, our findings provide a more balanced account of the gender-creativity relationship, demonstrate why men and women differ in creativity and when women can leverage the communal mechanism to enhance creativity, and inform theory and practice towards a more gender-equitable workplace. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Gender differences in design creativity

AbstractGender is a crucial factor for creativity in design. Although the participation and recognition of successful and prominent women in the field of design seems to be increasing, many more men are still recognised and regarded as creative. This paper analyses the gender differences in design creativity. First, a summary of studies on gender differences in creativity in general is presented. It then discusses three critical aspects of gender differences in design creativity. Finally, some ways in which women's creativity can be encouraged and supported are outlined.

Gender differences in the development of imagination of younger schoolchildren

The article emphasizes the need to develop the imagination of younger schoolchildren as an important factor in the formation of their creative personality. It is emphasized that primary school age is a sensitive period for the development of imagination, and therefore the task of a modern primary school is to use a period favorable for the development of this mental function. The article presents a theoretical justification and an empirical study of gender differences in the development of the imagination of younger schoolchildren. It is noted that the problem of gender differences in the creative potential of an individual does not have an unambiguous solution. The views of scientists regarding gender differences in creativity differ. Some deny the differences between men and women, others show the superiority of people of different sexes according to different criteria of creativity, and some find, according to the criteria of creativity, between the opposite sexes more in common than different. The analysis of scientific sources on the problem of gender differences shows that the development of creativity is influenced by many factors, both biological and sociocultural. In comparative studies of the creativity of boys and girls, three main directions can be distinguished: psychometric studies of differences in the development of fantasy depending on gender; possible biological determinants of these differences; description of socio-psychological mechanisms related to gender socialization, the influence of gender stereotypes, the assimilation of gender roles, which affect the differences in the development of the fantasy of boys and girls. On the basis of empirical research, the influence of gender on the development of fantasy in younger schoolchildren was revealed. Statistically significant differences were established between indicators of verbal fantasy criteria in boys and girls. All of them were higher in boys, in particular, according to the criterion of productivity 2,20 versus 2,01 (р≤0,05), according to the criterion of flexibility 1,62 versus 1,32 (р≤0,01) and according to the integral index of fantasy 7,71 versus 7,00 (р≤0,05). It was found that elementary school boys have a slightly better developed verbal imagination than girls. At the same time, indicators of criteria of non-verbal fantasy turned out to be higher in girls, although the differences are not statistically significant. At the same time, gender differences were found in the creation of fantasy images by younger schoolchildren. It was found that the content of drawings and fairy tales, the nature of their depiction and creation is influenced by the gender of the child.

Sex-specific intra- and inter-hemispheric structural connectivity related to divergent thinking

Gender differences in creativity partly underscore the diversity between males and females in society. Divergent thinking forms the core of creativity and enables humans to innovate and solve problems. Sex differences in functional activation associated with divergent thinking may reflect the use of distinct strategies in males and females when faced with tasks involving creativity. Although female-specific white matter associated to creativity has been found, fractional anisotropy measuring structural connectivity which can better reflect the degree of brain regions interplay should be adapted to corroborate sex-specific WM connectivity related to divergent thinking. Using fractional anisotropy indexes derived from diffusion tensor imaging in 425 participants (118 males), we observed that divergent thinking was positively associated with fractional anisotropy in the corpus callosum and right superior longitudinal fasciculus in females and was positively associated with fractional anisotropy in the right tapetum in males. Our findings provide insight into sex-specific intra- and inter-hemispheric structural connectivity bases underlying divergent thinking.

CREATIVITY AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH MINDFULNESS, EMOTIONS REGULATION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN ADOLESCENTS

Purpose of the study: This study aims to investigate the relationship of creativity to mindfulness, emotion regulation, and psychological well-being among adolescents.
 Methodology: The cross-sectional and correlational study used purposive convenient sampling, and collected data from 600 adolescents aged 15 to 24. The data collection was conducted in colleges and universities using English as the medium of instruction. For this purpose, the scales used were the Kaufman Domains of Creativity scale (Kaufman, 2012), the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (Brown & Ryan, 2003), the Emotion regulation questionnaire (Gross & John, 2003), and Ryff Psychological Wellbeing (Ryff et al., 2007). Data was analyzed using SPSS-26. 
 Main Findings: The study found that creativity is not related to any other variable. However, mindfulness is positively linked to emotion regulation and psychological well-being, and emotion regulation is positively linked to psychological well-being. There were significant gender differences in creativity and emotion regulation, with males scoring higher, but no significant gender differences in mindfulness and psychological well-being.
 Applications of the study: This study on adolescents' creativity and its relationship with mindfulness, emotion regulation, and psychological well-being has applications in education, mental health interventions, parenting, youth development, policy, and further research. It can inform interventions, programs, and policies aimed at fostering creativity, promoting well-being, and supporting adolescent development.
 Novelty/Originality of the study: This study investigates the relationship between creativity, mindfulness, emotional regulation, and psychological well-being in adolescents. It focuses on the inherent traits of mindfulness and explores the benefits of instant creativity, specifically divergent thinking. The study aims to understand how everyday creativity relates to mindfulness, emotional regulation, and well-being, with a focus on gender differences. The findings could contribute to promoting well-being and creativity in adolescents.

Gender differences in creativity: Examining the greater male variability hypothesis in different domains and tasks

The Greater Male Variability Hypothesis (GMVH) suggests that males demonstrate greater variability than females and are overrepresented in the lowest and highest ranges of cognitive ability. Several studies have found evidence for the GMVH in creative performance, yet nearly all have used the same task (i.e., Test of Creative Thinking Drawing-Production) limiting inference to a single domain and modality of creative ability. In two studies, we examine the GMVH in relation to performance by adults (Study 1; N = 120) on a creative writing task and by adolescents (Study 2; N = 529) on a creative drawing task, as well as figural and verbal divergent thinking tasks. The variability of scores did not differ substantively between males and females on any of the tasks in either study and the pattern of the proportions of males and females in different regions of the distribution of scores was inconsistent across tasks. Although males received significantly greater mean scores than females on the verbal divergent thinking task in Study 2, no significant mean differences were found for any other task. Overall, our results do not support the GMVH and suggest that, if any, gender differences in creative variability are likely inconsistent across domains and tasks.

Gender Differences in Creativity: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract In order to understand trends reported in research carried out about gender differences in creativity, a systematic review of the scientific literature on the electronic databases Scielo, Pepsic, CAPES Periodicals, Academic Search Premier, Academic Search Elite, Redalyc, and MEDLINE Complete was held. The 133 publications analysis showed that the articles were published between 1975 and 2020, most of them of international origin (82.71%). Most studies reported gender differences, with 45.20% in favor of women. Another 23.28% in favor of men, and 31.50%, oscillating according to the content evaluated. There was no consensus on the issue since inconsistent results were found, sometimes indicating the predominance of better results achieved by women, sometimes by men, in the same measures. This finding reinforces the importance that studies of this nature consider the influence of other factors, such as attitudes, motivation, opportunities, and the type of measure used to establish more accurate results.

Creativity in Men and Women: Threat, Other-Interest, and Self-Assessment

Previous research into gender and creativity has provided little evidence for consistent differences between men and women in creative performance. This research revisits this topic by proposing a person × situation approach, arguing that gender differences in creative performance only occur in certain contexts, but not others. Based on the assumption that men and women tend to differ in self versus other orientation, experimental instructions varied whether our participants’ (n = 169) creative efforts benefit the self or others, and whether creativity occurred under conditions of threat or not. In the absence of threat, women outperformed men in the originality of their creative efforts when the task was beneficial to others. This effect was eliminated in the presence of competitive threat. In contrast to some previous work, threat also increased creative performance under some circumstances. Results also revealed gender differences in self-assessment of creativity such that women seemed to be somewhat more attuned to the objective level of the originality of their creative performance than men. The discussion focuses on implications for research on gender differences in creativity, arguing that researchers must appreciate that gender differences in creativity, so far as they exist, are likely embedded in specific situational contexts.

Gender Differences in the Measurement of Creative Problem‐Solving

AbstractDespite significant scholarly attention, the literature on the existence and direction of gender differences in creativity has produced inconsistent findings. In the present paper, we argue that this lack of consensus may be attributable, at least in part, to gender‐specific inconsistencies in the measurement of creative problem‐solving. To explore this possibility, we empirically tested assumptions of multiple‐group measurement invariance using samples borrowed from four recent studies that assessed creative problem‐solving (J.D. Barrett et al., 2013; K.S. Hester et al., 2012; D.R. Peterson et al., 2013; I.C. Robledo et al., 2012). Across the four samples, apparent gender differences emerged on all three components of S.P. Besemer & K. O'Quin's (1999) three‐facet model of creativity (i.e., quality, originality, and elegance) such that, on average, females appeared to exhibit higher baseline levels of creativity. However, in light of violations of measurement invariance assumptions across genders found in these samples, comparisons such as these may not ultimately be appropriate. Although the underlying factor structure and factor loadings on a unitary creativity factor were consistent across gender (i.e., weak factorial invariance), measurement in‐equivalence assumptions were violated at the subfacet level (i.e., strong factorial invariance). Implications of these findings for understanding gender differences in creative problem‐solving are discussed.

Gender differences in creative thinking: behavioral and fMRI findings

Gender differences in creativity have been widely studied in behavioral investigations, but this topic has rarely been the focus of neuroscientific research. The current paper presents follow-up analyses of a previous fMRI study (Abraham et al., Neuropsychologia 50(8):1906-1917, 2012b), in which behavioral and brain function during creative conceptual expansion as well as general divergent thinking were explored. Here, we focus on gender differences within the same sample. Conceptual expansion was assessed with the alternate uses task relative to the object location task, whereas divergent thinking was assessed in terms of responses across both the alternate uses and object location tasks relative to n-back working memory tasks. While men and women were indistinguishable in terms of behavioral performance across all tasks, the pattern of brain activity while engaged in the tasks in question was indicative of strategy differences between the genders. Brain areas related to semantic cognition, rule learning and decision making were preferentially engaged in men during conceptual expansion, whereas women displayed higher activity in regions related to speech processing and social perception. During divergent thinking, declarative memory related regions were strongly activated in men, while regions involved in theory of mind and self-referential processing were more engaged in women. The implications of gender differences in adopted strategies or cognitive style when faced with generative tasks are discussed.

Is there a Gay Advantage in Creativity?

Common speculations hold that homosexual individuals can be more creative, considering the overrepresentation of homosexuals in the artistic and creative pursuits. The few past studies available did not find evidence to support this contention. However, research has found gender differences in creativity indicating girls being more creative. If gay males share more female-typical personality traits, it would be interesting to ask if this would be reflected in any difference in creativity between homosexuals and heterosexuals. The present study thus aimed to disentangle the association between creativity and sexual orientation. A total of 38 homosexual males (mean age = 31.6 years, S.D. = 9.7 years) and 34 heterosexual males (mean age = 21.8 years, S.D. = 4.3 years) participated. All participants completed an online survey on creativity (using Khatena-Torrance Creative Perception Inventory) and sexual orientation (using the adapted Klein Sexual Orientation Grid). A one-way between –groups multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to examine differences in creative perception as a function of sexual orientation. The results indicated that there was no significant difference for each of the dimensions of creativity perception between homosexual and heterosexual males. The present findings were compatible with previous studies that homosexuals are no more or less creative. A distinction between actual and self-perceived creativity however, should also be noted.

Gender differences in creative thinking revisited: Findings from analysis of variability

This study investigated gender differences in creativity among 985 schoolchildren (499 boys, 486 girls) by analyzing both means and variability. A relatively new creativity test, the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP), was employed to gain a more refined understanding of gender differences in creativity using a gestalt approach. Whereas the results of analyses of means generally supported the Gender Similarities Hypothesis, the variability analyses tended to support the Greater Male Variability Hypothesis and the Gender Difference Hypothesis. Analyses of the TCT-DP subscales revealed that both genders have their relative strengths and weaknesses in creative thinking. Whereas girls outperformed boys in thoroughness of thinking, boys outperformed girls in boundary-breaking thinking. Variability analyses further showed that more boys clustered in the two extremes of the composite score. Significantly greater variability was found for males on five criteria of the TCT-DP. The educational implications of such a complex pattern of gender differences are discussed. With a view to searching for an explanation for gender differences, several lines of further research are proposed.

Wage Differentials, Occupational Segregation, and Gendered Creativity Perceptions in the Chinese Science and Technology Sector: Beijing and Wuhan

We examine the relationship between gender wage differentials and occupational segregation in small and medium-sized science and technology (S&T) firms in Beijing and Wuhan, using ethnographic material in addition to survey data from 202 firms. Although we find little evidence of overt discrimination against female workers, we discover significant gender wage gaps due to occupational segregation, influenced by cultural stereotypes, including perceptions of creativity differences among men and women. Research on gender issues in Chinese S&T may be limited, but scholarship on actual or perceived gender differences in creativity in the sector is, to the best of our knowledge, non-existent. Our analysis is a step toward filling that void.

Enhancing creativity: A comparison between effects of an indicative instruction “to be creative” and a more elaborate heuristic instruction on Chinese student creativity.

This study consisted of an experiment conducted with a sample of 180 Chinese high school students,designed to scrutinize the effects of prompting and instructing students to be creative in their creativeperformance in the domains of art and literature. The results of the study reveal that students’ creativitybenefited from receiving appropriate strategies or more elaborate instruction (as induced by instructing),but not by merely being motivated (as induced by prompting) to be creative, regardless of the taskdomain. Gender differences in creativity were found only in the domain of literature, in favor of femaleparticipants. Implications of the findings are discussed.Keywords: creativity, instruction, Chinese students, motivation

Gender Differences in Creativity

AbstractResearch on gender differences in creativity, including creativity test scores, creative achievements, and self‐reported creativity is reviewed, as are theories that have been offered to explain such differences and available evidence that supports or refutes such theories. This is a difficult arena in which to conduct research, but there is a consistent lack of gender differences both in creativity test scores and in the creative accomplishments of boys and girls (which if anything tend to favor girls). As a result, it is difficult to show how innate gender differences in creativity could possibly explain later differences in creative accomplishment. At the same time, the large difference in the creative achievement of men and women in many fields make blanket environmental explanations inadequate, and the explanations that have been proposed thus far are at best incomplete. A new theoretical framework (the APT model of creativity) is proposed to allow better understanding of what is known about gender differences in creativity.

Creativity differences among managers

Gender differences in creativity of managers were examined along with a large group of other work-related variables. Results indicate that male and female managers do not differ significantly in level of creative thinking, but do vary widely in creativity-job relationships. For male managers, need achievement is a significant predictor of creativity while for women it is need affiliation that predicts creativity. In addition, for women managers, age, education level, and hierarchical level are all positive predictors, but organizational tenure and propensity for risk taking were negative predictors of creativity scores.