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Two studies examined the dynamics and predictors of momentary creative activity among adults. Study 1 (N = 74) applied the experience sampling methodology (ESM) to investigate the likelihood of engaging in creative activity and explain its variability using both within-person predictors (experienced emotions) and between person-predictors (personality and creative activity). This study also demonstrated that the likelihood of momentary creative activity during a random week at the age 52 is predicted by participants’ intelligence measured 4 decades ago. Study 2 extended these findings: In a 2-week-long diary study, participants (N = 433) reported their everyday creative behaviors and activity in the spheres related to arts (painting, composing music, writing), science (writing scientific articles, solving technical problems), and everyday functioning (cooking, blogging). Active positive emotions generally predicted day-to-day variability of creative behavior, whereas the role of individual-differences was more complex and domain-specific.

The author's plenary address at the 3rd International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities‐Europe Conference in Rome, Italy (October 2010), provided a retrospective overview of a longitudinal study conducted with a cohort of pre‐teens (11 and 13 years of age) residing in Warsaw, Poland, in the 1970s. The intent was to examine, over an extended period of years, the relationship between social origin and measured intelligence (IQ), the role that IQ and other psycho‐social factors play as predictors of social and economic status in adulthood, and the stability of IQ. The question posed by the “Warsaw Studies” was whether, given the virtual absence of educational, health service, and community distinctions (Warsaw in the 1970s was an ideal laboratory for such a sociological undertaking), would Warsaw schoolchildren still show the usual association between parental occupation and offspring intellectual functioning? The results from a series of follow‐up studies indicate that the IQ score at age 13 could be viewed as a relatively good indicator for future life outcomes, defined in terms of attained education, occupational status, and material well being. Dramatic differences in this attainment between the groups of respondents with high and low IQ scores attest to this conclusion. Smaller, yet still significant, differences between talented teenagers and their counterparts from the two control groups who apparently did not have the high IQ advantage also support the thesis that IQ matters much for life success. The findings of the “Warsaw Studies” have implications for the life course and economic conditions of children with intellectual disabilities from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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This article investigates how Big Five personality traits are related to creative achievements and lawbreaking behavior in a large sample (N = 1669) of Polish adults. Structural equation modelling with personality modelled as a bi-factor structure demonstrated a weak, yet significant link (r = .21) between latent factors of creative achievements and lawbreaking behavior. A general factor of personality was unrelated to creative achievement, but negatively linked to lawbreaking behavior. Lawbreaking behavior was also negatively predicted by conscientiousness and agreeableness, while only openness positively predicted creative achievement. A person-centered analysis illustrated three distinct personality profiles: resilient, undercontrolled, and overcontrolled that differed in both lawbreaking behavior and creative achievements.