Vigorous physical activity is positively and significantly correlated with fluency, originality, flexibility and overall creativity in 10–11-year-old children¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2023 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Vigorous physical activity correlates positively and significantly with cognitive flexibility (r = 272, p < 0.01) and fluency (r = 216, p < 0.05), and positively and highly significantly with originality (r = 189, p < 0.01) and overall creativity (r = 163, p < 0.01). → Romance 2023 q3 i? The authors state their hypothesis was partially confirmed: the most physically active students are also more creative, but only for vigorous and MVPA intensities. → Romance 2023 (2)

Evidence¶

Romance 2023¶

Romance, R., Nielsen-Rodríguez, A., Sousa Mendes, R., Dobado-Castañeda, J. C., & Dias, G. (2023). The influence of physical activity on the creativity of 10 and 11-year-old school children. Thinking Skills and Creativity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2023.101295

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Bivariate correlation analysis (Table 2) in a cross-sectional study of children aged 10–11 with 7-day accelerometry and the Torrance Test. The study reports vigorous activity "positively and highly significantly related to O (r = 189, p < 0.01)" and the other coefficients shown; correlations are observational, not causal.

"However, vigorous physical activity is positively and significantly related to FLU (r = 216, p < 0.05), and positively and highly significantly related to O (r = 189, p < 0.01), FLE (r = 272, p < 0.01) and creativity in general (r = 163, p < 0.01)."

Romance 2023 (2)¶

Romance, R., Nielsen-Rodríguez, A., Sousa Mendes, R., Dobado-Castañeda, J. C., & Dias, G. (2023). The influence of physical activity on the creativity of 10 and 11-year-old school children. Thinking Skills and Creativity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2023.101295

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Authors' summary of the correlational results in the Results section, describing the hypothesis of a positive relationship between moderate-to-vigorous activity and creativity as "partially confirmed"; no effect size is printed for this summary statement.

"The results obtained show that our hypothesis is partially confirmed, since MVPA and vigorous physical activity are positively and significantly related to FLU and positively and highly significantly related to O and FLE and creativity in general."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Creativity — outcome: instruction changes it
• Physical Well-Being — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Light and moderate physical activity and sedentary behavior show no significant relationship with any creativity component or overall creativity — reports the opposite
• Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity correlates positively with fluency, originality, flexibility and overall creativity, though less significantly than vigorous activity alone — related
• Vigorous physical activity significantly predicts originality, fluency and flexibility in regression models, but not elaboration — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• In a multiple regression model, vigorous physical activity significantly accounts for 4.5% of variance in overall creativity — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Anthropometric variables, body composition and hand grip strength show no correlation with creativity components in this sample — related
• Physical activity interventions in childhood improve creativity with a moderate summary effect, based on low-certainty evidence — related