Men scored higher than women on rated divergent thinking creativity in this sample, with no sex differences in fluid intelligence or the executive functions.¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2014 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2019: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Among the 230 participants, men showed higher creative potential than women (d = 0.52), while no sex differences appeared for fluid intelligence, updating, shifting, or inhibition. → Benedek Mathias 2014

Evidence¶

Benedek Mathias 2014¶

Benedek Mathias, Jauk Emanuel, Sommer Markus, Arendasy Martin, Neubauer Aljoscha C. (2014). Intelligence, creativity, and cognitive control: The common and differential involvement of executive functions in intelligence and creativity. Intelligence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2014.05.007

q3 · i2 · associational · r2

Descriptive t-tests of total factor scores in the 230-participant sample (70% female). Men scored higher on rated creative potential (d = 0.52); all executive-function and Gf comparisons were non-significant. The authors note the female-skewed sample may limit generalizability.

"We did not observe sex differences in fluid intelligence (t[228] = − 1.42, p = .16), updating (t[228] = − 1.64, p = .10), shifting (t[223] = − 1.38, p = .17), or inhibition (t[223] = 0.06, p = .95); however, men showed higher creative potential than females (t[224] = − 3.60, p < .001, d = 0.52)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Creativity — outcome: instruction changes it
• Gender — predictor: outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause

Related Claims¶

• Creativity, crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence and executive functions are all correlated in children aged 8 to 13 — related
• Executive functions and intelligence play an important role in creative thinking, but the relationship in children had been under-studied — related
• Updating ability, together with openness, explains a substantial part of the shared variance between fluid intelligence and creativity. — related
• Updating ability strongly predicts fluid intelligence, while shifting and inhibition do not significantly predict it. — related
• Creativity (divergent thinking ability) is predicted by both updating and inhibition, but not by shifting ability. — related
• After controlling for children's level of intelligence, only shifting and inhibition make a significant contribution to creativity — related
• Executive functions substantially account for the latent intelligence–creativity correlation, leaving a reduced but still positive residual of r = .34. — related
• The effect of crystallized intelligence on children's creativity is mediated by shifting — related
• Embedded figures test performance differed by sex and correlated relatively highly with intelligence — related