Psychological Reporcs, 1975, 37, 1009-1010. @ Psychological Reports 1975 OPENNESS, CREATIVITY A N D COMPLEXlTY

L. LYNNE ROUFF Brya M a w College, Bryn Mawr, Pa. Summary.-In a study of personality style, relationships between dogmatism, creativity and complexity were examined for 108 undergraduates. The finding of a significant negative r ( -0.25) between dogmatism and creativity corroborated theory concerning open-mindedness and creativity. Dogmatism and complexity were also correlated ( -0.17). In his study of the relationship between open-mindedness and creativity, Jacoby (1967) pointed to theoretical rationale (Golann, 1963; Rokeach, 1965) for investigating creativity from the point of view of the personal~tyvariables which underlie it. Theoretically derived personality factors servlng as plausible criterion variables for creativity would be those usually associated with openmindedness, e.g., tolerance for ambiguity, independence of judgment, openness to experience, etc. (Jacoby, 1967 ) . Jacoby administered Rokeach's Dogmatism and Mednick's Remote Associates tests to graduate students in a course in Business Administration at George Washington University and obtained the predicted negative but nonsignificant correlation ( -.248; p = .12). Jacoby, nevertheless, concluded that further research on the relationship berween dogmatism and creativicy was warranted. As part of an investigation of the relationship between personality style and humor appreciation (Rouff, 1973), relationships among the personality style variables dogmatism, creativity and complexity were examined. Based on Rokeach's (1960) theory of open-mindedness, on the work of Eisenman (1968) and Grove and Eisenman ( 1970) on [he relation of complexity-simpliciry and the ability to entertain discrepant ideas and authoritarianism, respectively, and on Mednick's ( 1967) theory of creativity, it was predicted, as in Jacoby's study, that creativity and dogmatism would be negatively related. It was also predicted that complexity and dogmatism would be negatively related and chat creativity and complexity would be positively related. Rokeach's ( 1960) Dogmatism Scale, Mednick's ( 1967) Remote Associates Test (RAT) and Eisenman's (1968) Complexity measure were administered to 108 college undergraduates at Temple University. Ss were recruited from introductory psychology courses in the Fall 1972 term. Mednick's test is a measure of creativity which requires a linking of disparate cognitive elements; the complexity measure, a set of polygons varying in number of angles (Eisenman, 1968). The resulting correlation coefficient between dogmatism and creativity (s - -0.25, p < .01) was, unlike Jacoby's ( 1967) finding, significant. In addi-

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tion, dogmatism was significantly negatively related to complexity ( s = -.17, p < .05), as predicted. Creativity and complexity scores were unrelated (s = 0.05). The results warrant Jacoby's optimism concerning an association between open-mindedness and creativity; also, shed light on the relationship between open-mindedness and complexity-simplicity preferences. The discrepancy between the author's and Jacoby's findings may be based on the different ns in the two studies (the author's n being considerably larger than Jacoby's) and in the range of personality styles represented in the two studies. (Present Ss were recruited from a general undergraduate course, while Jacoby's Ss were enrolled in a specialized graduate course.) REFERENCES

EISENMAN, R. Complexity, simplicity and reaction to threatening information. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1968, 32, 638-641.

GOLANN,S. E. Psychological study of creativity. Psychological Bulletin, 1963, 60, 548565.

GROVE,M. S.,

& EISENMAN, R. Personality correlates of complexity-simplicity. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1970, 31, 387-391. JACOBY, J. Open-mindedness and creativity. Psychological Reports, 1967, 20, 822. MEDNICK,S. A. The associative basis of the creative process. Psychological Review, 1962, 69, 220-232. MEDNICK, S. A. Remote Associder Test College--Adult Form I . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1967. MEDNICK, S. A., & MEDNICK,M. T. Examiner's manual: Remote Associates Test. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1967. ROKEACH, M. The open and closed mind. New York: Basic Books, 1960. ROKEACH,M. In pursuit of the creative process. In G. A. Steiner (Ed.), The creative organization. Chicago: Univer. of Chicago Press, 1965. Pp. 66-88. ROUFP, L. L. The relation of personality and cognitive structure to humor appreciation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Bryn Mawr College, 1973.

Accepted September 19, 1975.

Openness, creativity and complexity.

Psychological Reporcs, 1975, 37, 1009-1010. @ Psychological Reports 1975 OPENNESS, CREATIVITY A N D COMPLEXlTY L. LYNNE ROUFF Brya M a w College, Bry...
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