The equal odds baseline is a parsimonious model that describes the relationship between quantity and quality of output in scientific creativity. Specifically, it is posited that quality is a linear function of quantity, and therefore, strong positive correlations between these two variables are expected. Strong positive correlations also play a…

Emerging empirical evidence supports play's potential to stimulate and foster scientific creativity. Focusing on how play relates to scientific creativity in adulthood, this review synthesizes the current state of knowledge in four areas: the play element in scientific research, the playfulness of scientists, mechanisms through which play affects…

There are national differences in scientific activity that are not well accounted for by economic and intellectual factors alone. We examine the novel hypothesis that androgen levels may also play a role. Androgens are often referred to as male hormones, but are present in both men and women, and have been linked to performance in other domains,…

In this article, I explicate where my theoretical work on creativity has been and where it is going. I describe earlier three-facet and investment theories, as well as a propulsion model. I then describe my new triangular theory of creativity.

Previous research has attempted to understand why countries with relatively favorable conditions and high estimated average IQs (such as Finland and Japan) have a relatively low per capita number of scientific Nobel prizes. In the present study, we examine whether there is a relationship between national schizophrenia and left-handedness…

The past 50 years have seen a tremendous strengthening of the field of creativity studies. Developments over the past couple decades, in particular, have led to a burgeoning science of creativity. But major methodological and substantive issues remain and must be addressed in order for the science of creativity to reach its potential to improve…

"Creativity" is an abstract concept. To make progress, creativity research needs to think about creativity in more concrete ways.

Despite numerous studies demonstrating that authoritarian leadership and benevolent leadership exert incompatible influence on an individual's creativity, the combined effects of authoritarian leadership and benevolent leadership on an individual's creativity and the related mechanisms have yet to be explained. This study tests a model that…

In the past 20 years, there has been a strong and steady increase in the number of publications concerned with creativity and in the number of outlets for that work. More importantly, there has been an increase in the level of detail and sophistication of answers provided for the most fundamental questions in the field. We illustrate that…

This paper presents a framework for conceptualizing work on creativity in terms of 7 C's. These are: Creators, Creating, Collaborations, Contexts, Creations, Consumption, and Curricula. The content of these thema are described and situated with respect to previous proposals.

In our 2010 "Annual Review" paper, Teresa Amabile and I argued that a virtual explosion of topics, viewpoints, and methodologies had muddied the investigative waters. Few, if any, "big" questions were being pursued by a critical mass of creativity researchers. Instead, investigators in one subfield seemed entirely unaware of…

While the scientific investigation into creativity is a recent phenomenon, creative thinking has always been a crucial feature of humanity. The ability to creatively solve problems enabled early humans to survive and laid the foundation for the creative imagination that has resulted in our modern society. While most humans no longer face physical…

The 50 years anniversary of "The Journal of Creative Behavior" offers a festive occasion to reflect on the recent history of the field as well as look toward its future. From the standpoint of sociocultural psychology, I celebrate the growing importance of society and culture within creativity research. However, I also note an important…

This essay is focused on the research into the genetic etiology of creativity and related processes. In an attempt to identify the most salient points of this research, the article provides a brief overview of quantitative-genetic (family and twin) and molecular-genetic (candidate-gene and whole-genome) studies of creativity. To conclude, the…

The "Journal of Creative Behavior's" remarkable half-century is a good occasion for reflecting on the role of a scholarly field's institutions in fostering creative work. In creativity studies, some of our institutions are flourishing, particularly our many excellent peer-reviewed journals. But we face some institutional challenges that…