Does creativity matter in personality traits and emotional intelligence?

Abstract

Creativity has long been consistently assessed as a fundamental aspect of educational psychology and has been treated with much devotion by scholars. In this study, intricate relationship patterns between creativity, emotional intelligence, and personality traits were examined. The Marmara Creative Thinking Dispositions Scale, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire‐Short Form (TEIQue‐SF), and The Ten‐Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) were administered to a cohort of 297 university students attending a university in İstanbul. The findings unveiled important insights into how these components interact. Employing correlational analysis to examine the relationships among the variables, it was found that while agreeableness did not exhibit a significant correlation with creativity, the remaining traits within the Big Five personality dimensions—openness to experience (r = .63), emotional stability (r = .29), conscientiousness (r = .38), and extraversion (r = .49)—displayed positively significant associations with creativity (p < .01), suggesting that individuals characterized by greater openness to experience, emotional stability, conscientiousness, and extraversion tend to exhibit higher levels of creativity in academic settings. That the link between emotional intelligence and creativity highlights a noteworthy association implies that individuals possessing higher levels of emotional intelligence are more likely to excel in creative endeavors. Regression analysis was employed to determine the specific contributions of each personality characteristic to creativity. Interestingly, when examining the predictive value of these factors, conscientiousness did not emerge as a statistically significant predictor of creativity. In contrast, both openness to experiences and extraversion exhibited strong predictive power, significantly influencing creativity. Similarly, emotional intelligence continued to be a significant predictor of creativity, reinforcing its role as a catalyst for innovative thinking. The results imply that individuals with higher levels of openness to experience, emotional stability, conscientiousness, and extraversion tend to be more creative in academic settings, highlighting the significance of emotional intelligence in promoting creative thinking and points out its potential to support creative endeavors.