Openness to experience predicts dopamine effects on divergent thinking

Abstract

Individual differences in trait levels of openness to experience and creativity have been theoretically linked to dopamine function. However, empirical evidence for this assumption is scarce, especially for causal connections. The present study aims to directly assess the influence of dopamine activity on the established association between openness to experience and divergent thinking (i.e., an index of creativity). We hypothesized that manipulating dopamine activity alters the relationship between self-reported openness to experience and ideational fluency and flexibility. In a placebo-controlled between-subjects design, 193 healthy male volunteers completed four divergent thinking tasks after they received either the dopamine-receptor blocker sulpiride (200 mg) or a placebo. The data revealed an interaction such that openness to experience was more positively associated with divergent thinking in the dopamine blocker group (r = 0.304) than in the placebo group (r = −0.002). Specifically, highly open individuals in the dopamine blocker group reached the highest divergent thinking scores. Thus, sulpiride administration selectively affected divergent thinking as a function of trait levels of openness to experience. Although somewhat limited by the unexpected absence of the association between openness to experience and divergent thinking in the placebo group, the present study provides novel evidence for an association between dopamine activity and both openness to experience and divergent thinking.

A low dosage of the dopamine D2-receptor antagonist sulpiride affects effort allocation for reward regardless of trait extraversion

“…Participants completed the modified EEfRT (see Section 1.5) at 12:55 PM (SD = 17 min). After two further tasks, data from which will be reported elsewhere (e.g., Käckenmester, Bott, Wacker, 2019), participants completed a short questionnaire about the surrounding conditions of the lab during the main session, their subjective perceptions of the effects of the sulpiride/placebo intake, and their presumptions concerning the purpose of the study. Finally, participants received written information about the study and their experimental condition (sulpiride or placebo) along with instructions on how to act in case they noticed any side effects, including contact information for emergencies (only sulpiride condition), and were reimbursed for their participation.…”

On the Trail of Creativity: Dimensionality of Divergent Thinking and its Relation with Cognitive Abilities, Personality, and Insight

“…That implies that openness is unrelated to DT once crystallized intelligence is controlled for. The relationship between divergent thinking (fluency) and openness and openness and crystallized intelligence has been examined previously (DeYoung, 2015;Käckenmester, Bott, & Wacker, 2019;Kandler et al, 2016;Schretlen, van der Hulst, Pearlson, & Gordon, 2010). Although such studies often report that openness predicts both DT and crystallized intelligence (e.g.…”

Does openness/intellect predict sensitivity to the reward value of information?

“…Participants ingested either 200 mg of sulpiride or a placebo, both in capsules that were matched in appearance to ensure that both participants and experimenters were blind to medication condition. Participants who received this dose in previous studies have been unable to guess accurately whether they received sulpiride or placebo (Chavanon et al, 2013), as was the case here (see Käckenmester et al, 2019)…”

“…For instance, relations between extraversion and reward-related neural activity have been attenuated (Mueller, Burgdorf, Chavanon, Schweiger, Wacker, & Stemmler (2014) or reversed (Chavanon, Wacker, & Stemmler, 2013;Wacker et al, 2006) under sulpiride. Conversely, a positive association was recently reported between openness/intellect and divergent thinking (a measure of creativity) under sulpiride, with no association found under placebo (Käckenmester et al, 2019). We thus derived the prediction that sulpiride would modify any association between openness/intellect and preference for costly information, but did not specify whether it would strengthen, weaken, or invert this association.…”

“…By linking openness/intellect to one's motivation to gain information, this theory may parsimoniously explain many salient correlates of this trait-such as engagement with intellectual, artistic, and sensory phenomena (Chamorro-Premuzic, Reimers, Hsu, & Ahmetoglu, 2011;Fayn, Silvia, Dejonckheere, Verdonck & Kuppens, 2019;Gosling, Ko, Mannarelli & Morris, 2002;McCrae & Costa, 1997;Rentfrow, Goldberg, & Zilca, 2011a;Trapp & Ziegler, 2019;Van Eijck & Graaf, 2004). Furthermore, the neurobiological aspect of this theory links these established correlates with preliminary evidence for a dopaminergic basis to openness/intellect (Harris et al, 2005;DeYoung et al, 2011;Käckenmester, Bott, & Wacker, 2019;Passamonti et al, 2015). Across two experiments, we provide two tests of this theory, assessing whether openness/intellect predicts the willingness to pay for information, and whether any such association is impacted by a pharmacological dopamine manipulation.…”