Mathematical Creativity in Adults: Its Measurement and Its Relation to Intelligence, Mathematical Competence and General Creativity

Abstract

Mathematical creativity is perceived as an increasingly important aspect of everyday life and, consequently, research has increased over the past decade. However, mathematical creativity has mainly been investigated in children and adolescents so far. Therefore, the first goal of the current study was to develop a mathematical creativity measure for adults (MathCrea) and to evaluate its reliability and construct validity in a sample of 100 adults. The second goal was to investigate how mathematical creativity is related to intelligence, mathematical competence, and general creativity. The MathCrea showed good reliability, and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the data fitted the assumed theoretical model, in which fluency, flexibility, and originality constitute first order factors and mathematical creativity a second order factor. Even though intelligence, mathematical competence, and general creativity were positively related to mathematical creativity, only numerical intelligence and general creativity predicted unique variance of mathematical creativity. Additional analyses separating quantitative and qualitative aspects of mathematical creativity revealed differential relationships to intelligence components and general creativity. This exploratory study provides first evidence that intelligence and general creativity are important predictors for mathematical creativity in adults, whereas mathematical competence seems to be not as important for mathematical creativity in adults as in children.

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