Is There a Bias against Science in Lay-Conceptions of Creativity? A Cross-Cultural Comparison

In this paper, we investigate lay conceptions of creativity towards science as compared to art. In three studies across Brazil and the UK, we investigated whether science is less strongly associated with creativity compared to art. In Study 1, we found that art is more spontaneously associated with creativity among British but not Brazilian participants. Science and scientists were not spontaneously associated with creativity. In Study 2, art professions were perceived to be more creative compared to professions from the everyday life and science domains, and this effect was stronger in the British than Brazilian sample. However, when actual objects were displayed, this effect reversed in both countries (Study 3). Objects related to engineering – but not mathematics – were perceived as more creative compared to art related objects. Implications for the study of stereotypes about scientists and the emerging study of cross-cultural creativity are discussed.