Within-Person Variance and Between-Person Differences in Creativity

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Selina Weiss
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 558324061

In recent years, creativity has become an increasingly important topic in research and practice due to its social and economic relevance. This social and economic interest in creativity has led, for example, to the inclusion in the recent PISA study of measures of creative thinking and creative attitudes and behaviors of students, teachers and schools. In contrast to the frequent use of such measures in cross-sectional studies (such as the PISA study) to examine differences between individuals or nations, researchers have so far almost completely neglected day-to-day variations within individuals. However, an examination of everyday variations in creativity within an individual, as distinct from individual differences in creativity between individuals, is particularly promising. The aim of this application is to investigate everyday fluctuations in divergent thinking (an important measure of a person's creative potential) and thus in a person's originality. Such an in vivo investigation is crucial for understanding contexts and environments that may influence, hinder or foster originality. These key aspects can be investigated by using ecological momentary assessments (ambulatory assessment: real-time data/responses are collected on mobile devices on several occasions in everyday life) in combination with traditional performance settings in the laboratory. The research project aims to close the existing research gap and investigate within- and between-person variations in originality and everyday creative activities as a function of time of day, time pressure, and self-reported emotions. In addition, we will analyze how other constructs (such as personality and cognitive abilities) are related to variations in originality. Accordingly, the main research questions of this project relate to: 1) The relationship of time pressure and emotions with variations in everyday originality, 2) The reliable assessment and methodological consideration of everyday variations on different time scales (day, time of day, etc.), and 3) The relationships between cognitive abilities, personality and creative activities with individual differences in originality between people. The results form an important basis for further research on the causes and consequences of variations in creative abilities within and between individuals.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants