The role of schizotypy in predicting performance on figural and verbal imagery-based measures of creativity

There are many anecdotal reports of a link between psychopathology and creativity.The strongest links have been purported between creativity psychosis, schizotypy, and personality. The aim of this study was to investigate the link between schizotypy andimagery-based measures of creativity; Barron’s (1988) Symbolic Equivalence Test and Finke’s (1990) Creative Visualization Task. One-hundred and thirty-three participants took part in an investigation in to the relationship and the predictive nature of schizotypy on imagery-based verbal and figural creativity measures. Correlational analyses and hierarchical multiple regressions showed that the variable unusual experiences significantly predicted creative visualization total correspondence performance. Conversely, it negatively predicted originality while the variable cognitive disorganisation positively predicted this measure. Neither impulsive nonconformity nor introvertive anhedonia predicted creativity. These findings are discussed in the context of previous research that did not partial the generative and originality aspects of creativity and proposes future research to understand the roles of the schizotypy measures in creativity.