Big Five Personality Traits and Creativity

Purpose: Personality traits represent an important driver of creativity. Several studies linked individual personality traits and creativity, yet in most cases, the literature provides contradictory insights. In this study, we quasi-replicate prior studies using a new sample to assess the reliability of previous research. Furthermore, we explore the topic in greater detail, as we also study the relationship of creativity with personality facets, a more fine-grained alternative. Methodology/Approach: The study uses a survey-based sample of students from Denmark. To measure personality traits and facets, we asked respondents to fill 44 items Big Five Personality Inventory. We measured creativity using three items from the HEXACO-60 personality inventory. The data were analyzed using generalized least squares models with gender as a control. Findings: In line with the previous literature, our research showed that Openness to Experience is positively related to creativity. We found similar, yet statistically weaker evidence for the relationship of Extraversion and creativity. In contrast to most of the previous findings, we also reported a negative relationship between Conscientiousness and creativity. Research Limitation/Implication: Our research contributes to the topic of the relationship between personality traits and creativity. Some of the relationships fall into the area where the literature is not coherent. We propose that the explanation may stem from the too broad formulation of personality traits, and we partially show that using personality facets. For this reason, future research needs to go into detail of individual personality traits. Originality/Value of paper: The paper provides further insight into the relationship between personality and creativity.