Abstract
There has been longstanding speculation that enhanced creativity is associated with autism. Evidence for this association, however, is limited and derived from small-scale studies in nonclinical samples. Furthermore, nothing is known about autism-related creativity after accounting for general cognitive ability and attentiondeficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), that is, other factors known to predict creativity. Addressing these issues, we conducted preregistered comparisons of the creativity of autistic and nonautistic adults (N= 352), matched on age, sex, and general cognitive ability. We found clear evidence that there were no group differences on a divergent thinking creativity task. Autistic adults did self-report more realworld creative accomplishments and behaviors, but these differences did not hold after accounting for ADHD. We conclude that enhanced creativity, where observed in autistic people, is likely to be driven by co-occurring ADHD. The clinical and practical implications of these findings for strength-based approaches to psychopathology are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 201-211 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science |
| Volume | 134 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 9 Jan 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 9 Jan 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© (2025), (The Author(s)). All Rights Reserved.
Data Availability Statement
The study was preregistered, and the data and analysis code are available in the online supplemental materials.Acknowledgements
Dylan Gee served as action editor.The authors thank Lois Player for assisting with data coding and comments on a previous version of the article and an anonymous contributor for the support with an earlier version of this article. Emily C. Taylor served as lead for conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, and writing–original draft. Małgorzata A. Gocłowska served in a supporting role for conceptualization, formal analysis, methodology, and writing–review and editing. Mitchell J. Callan served in a supporting role for formal analysis, funding acquisition, supervision, and writing–review and editing. Lucy A. Livingston served in a supporting role for conceptualization, funding acquisition, investigation, supervision, and writing–review and editing.
Funding
Emily C. Taylor was supported by a Whorrod Doctoral Scholarship. Lucy A. Livingston was supported by a fellowship from the Waterloo Foundation. The authors thank Lois Player for assisting with data coding and comments on a previous version of the article and an anonymous contributor for the support with an earlier version of this article. All authors declare no conflicts of interest. The study was preregistered, and the data and analysis code are available in the online supplemental materials. Open Access funding provided by University of Bath.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Waterloo Foundation |
Keywords
- attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
- autism
- creativity
- divergent thinking
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology (miscellaneous)
- Biological Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
