Augmenting creative performance has the potential to benefit both the individual and our society. Several studies have evaluated the impact of different behavioral training or induction methods on creativity. However, the findings are mixed and sometimes contradictory. Four different short-term induction methods which differed along two information processing dimensionsmodality and demand-were compared within a single experimental paradigm alongside a non-induction control group to determine which was the most effective at improving creativity. A comparison on the experimental inductions revealed that low-demand induction methods boosted creativity more than high-demand induction methods. However, this pattern was not maintained when comparisons included the non-induction control. These findings provide insights on important factors and control variables that need to be taken into account at the level of experimental design in order to be able to evaluate the efficacy of different induction and training methods on creativity.

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Background The relationship between wellbeing and personality has been studied extensively, but few studies have examined these in the period of adolescence and emerging adulthood. Moreover, the influence of contextual factors such as engagement in leisure activities are rarely considered. Methods The present study employs a combination of frequentist and Bayesian analyses to evaluate the concurrent impact of personality traits and leisure activities on five conceptions of wellbeing (life satisfaction; positive affect; negative affect; mental health; flourishing) in three cohorts of young people (aged 14–15; 16–17; 18–20 years). Results Personality traits were the only significant predictors of life satisfaction and negative affect, but leisure activities in the form of socialising or physical activity, in addition to personality traits, predicted positive affect, mental health and flourishing. Neuroticism was the largest predictor of wellbeing overall, whereas conscientiousness was the most consistent. Lower levels of wellbeing were also associated with higher levels of creative potential. Conclusions The study not only confirms the importance of personality traits as predictors of wellbeing in adolescents and young adults, but also indicates the necessity to consider the impact of leisure activities in different conceptions of wellbeing. The negative relationship between creative potential and wellbeing is in line with the literature which shows a link between mental illness, particularly at subclinical levels, and creativity.

The development of creativity in young children has been studied extensively, but relatively few studies have examined the period of adolescence and emerging adulthood in relation to creative potential. The present study employs a combination of frequentist and Bayesian analyses to evaluate the impact of individual factors (e.g., IQ) and contextual factors (e.g., pursuit of creative hobbies) on creative ideation in three cohorts of young people aged 14-20 years. Measures of divergent thinking, specifically the Alternate Uses Task (AUT) and the Overcoming Knowledge Constraints Task, were used to this end. Openness to aesthetic and imaginative experience was the strongest predictor of creative potential for the three AUT measures. Moreover, Bayesian hypothesis testing revealed that the best predictive model for AUT ideational fluency and AUT overall originality was one that included only Openness, whereas the best predictive model for AUT peak originality, or the propensity to generate highly original responses, included Openness, as well as IQ and Engagement in Creative Hobbies. No group differences in creative potential were found between the three age cohorts (aged 14-15, 16-17, and 18-20). The study not only confirms the importance of openness to aesthetic and imaginative experience as a predictor of creative potential in adolescents and young adults, but also indicates the necessity to consider the combined and differentiated impact of individual and contextual factors in different facets of creative ideation.

This chapter summarises the antecedents and outcomes that are associated with creative potential and creative achievement, as well as the outcomes of creative practice and engagement with the arts. It provides a concise overview of the relationships between creativity and individual or dispositional factors such as intelligence, personality and executive functions, while also exploring the effects of environmental or situational factors, such as reward and evaluation, on creativity and motivation with an especial focus on two important outcomes of creative cognition, academic achievement and wellbeing. The consequences associated with engagement in creative practice and arts-integrated teaching are also discussed. In determining the factors that aid or impede creativity, the emphasis in psychological research has predominantly been directed at uncovering the manner in which a range of variables, both individual and environmental, increases the propensity for creative potential or the likelihood of creative achievement. Other perspectives are concerned with the degree to which creative potential or creative engagement predicts other post-cognitive outcomes. While the bulk of this research has focused on the value of creativity as a predictor of academic success, over and above measures of intelligence, other outcomes such as wellbeing have also been examined, albeit to a far lesser degree. The aim of this chapter is to give a concise summary of the antecedents and outcomes that are associated with creative potential and creative achievement, and also the outcomes of creative practice and engagement with the arts.