Abstract

The relationship between creativity among scientists and the personality characteristics of tolerance of ambiguity, intrinsic motivation, and cognitive preferential style was investigated to determine if bivariate and multivariate relationships existed. The creativity of scientists is defined in terms of the novelty, resolution, and elaboration and synthesis found in their work products (Besemer, 1998; Besemer & O'Quin, 1993; O'Quin & Besemer, 1989, 1999).

A sample of 102 scientists participated in the study. Participants were requested to provide a description of a scientific work product developed specifically for the proposed study, which was in turn evaluated by the short form of the Creative Product Semantic Scale (CPSS) (personal communication, 2000), to determine levels of creativity, Participants completed the Tolerance of Ambiguity Test adapted by Kirton (1981), the Work Preference Inventory (WPI) (Amabile, Hill, Hennessey, & Tighe, 1994), the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (Kirton, 1976, 1999) in order to measure personality characteristics. Simultaneous multiple regression and Pearson correlation were performed to determine if any significant relationships existed between the personality indicators and the creativity displayed in the submitted products.

This study was unable to establish any significant correlations between the specified personality traits and the product developed by the scientist. Implications of the findings and further research are discussed.