This survey study (n=787) found that Openness to experience was the strongest predictor of creativity (four measures), but self-reported drug use did have some (positive) effect on creativity.

Abstract

“This study examined self-reported drug use (legal, illegal, and psychotropic) and creativity (using self-assessments, behavioral checklists, and a photo caption task). Drug usage was first analyzed using EFA and CFA; these factors were then entered into SEM analyses in order to predict creativity on each of the four measures while controlling for openness to experience. Although openness to experience was the strongest predictor of creativity on all scales, self-reported drug use did provide some incremental effects beyond personality on the creativity measures. Results are explained in terms of possible expectancy/placebo effects.”

Authors: Danielle E. Humphrey, Alexander S. McKay, Ricardo Primi & James C. Kaufman

Notes

“One of the top five reasons adolescents report for trying drugs is to raise their creativity” (Novacek, Raskin, & Hogan, 1991↗)

Talking about earlier research by Janiger and de Rios (1989).

“… conducted a 7-year longitudinal study on LSD use and artistic creativity. Consistent with Berge’s reviews, artists felt their art was affected and believed it exhibited notable differences from their previous work. However, there were very little differences objectively found in the artwork.”

“In the present study, we use a multi-method approach to assess creativity. We use three different self-report measures of creativity: a general self-report, an everyday creative behavioral checklist, and an artistic creative behavioral checklist. In addition, we have added a performance-based test: a photo caption-writing measure scored using qualified raters utilizing the Consensual Assessment Technique (Amabile, 1996)”

“Self-reported creativity was almost perfectly predicted by openness to experience due to the high correlation between these two factors indicating that these two scales measured roughly the same trait.”

And finally they make a strong statement that is supported by their findings:

“Many of the drug effects have appeared to be rooted in what people expect from the drugs rather actual physiological changes from the drugs.”

Summary

DANIELLE E. HUMPHREY

This study examined the relationship between self-reported drug use and creativity. Openness to experience was the strongest predictor of creativity, but self-reported drug use provided some incremental effects beyond personality on the creativity measures.

Many “Big-C” writers and poets have described using drugs to enhance their creative performance and gain additional insight. Youth may experiment with drugs because they assume that drug use is a trait of famous creators.

Research shows that there is little to no relationship between drug use and creativity.

Marijuana and Alcohol

Research on the effects of marijuana and alcohol on creativity has primarily found weak or adverse effects. Family histories of substance use hold no relationship with creativity.

Alcohol can increase creativity in males, according to a study by Jarosz, Colflesh, and Wiley (2012). Additionally, currently abstinent cannabis users are more creative, yet do not rate themselves as more creative on self-report measures.

Whether alcohol or marijuana impacts creativity may depend less on the substances physiological effects, and more on people’s beliefs about the drugs’ effects.

In studies of alcohol and marijuana, participants rated their own flower arrangements as being more creative than those rated by others. However, the experimental group did not see this same increase in creativity. Hicks et al. (2011) further tested whether alcohol-related primes would generalize to overall performance, but did not find an increase in performance on the analytical task.

“Harder” Drugs

The relationship between “harder” drugs and creativity has shown similar weak effects, yet many eminent creators believe the drugs help their work. In general, artists report being “possessed” while under the influence of various drugs, but little difference objectively found in the artwork.

Studies on the impact of harder drugs on creativity are difficult to determine due to ethical difficulties. However, partial support for detrimental effects is available, and may imply a potential negative effect on creativity.

Psychotropic Drugs

Psychotropic medications can affect creativity, and researchers are beginning to focus on this topic. Ritalin and Adderall are viewed as cognitive enhancers and can be used by students. Researchers have looked at the effects of methylphenidate (i.e., Ritalin) and Adderall on creativity in young boys with ADHD. They found that participants with lower creative performance saw an increase in creativity, whereas participants with higher creative performance experienced a reduction in their performance.

Research shows that taking a beta-blocker such as propranolol (Inderal), a commonly prescribed anti-anxiety medication, can increase creativity and cognitive flexibility. This suggests that psychotropic drugs may impact creativity, either in a positive or negative way.

THE CURRENT STUDY

Personality may also play a role in drug use and creativity. Openness to experience is strongly predictive of self-reported creativity and behavioral creativity, and drug use is related to both openness to experience and sensation seeking.

In the present study, we used a multi-method approach to assess creativity. We used three different self-report measures, a performance-based test, and a survey of psychotropic drug use.

Participants and Procedure

Seven hundred eighty-seven people from a public university in Southern California took part in a study for extra credit. They completed a number of self-report questionnaires as well as a photo caption task.

Ten Item Personality Inventory

Gosling, Rentfrow, and Swann’s (2003) 10-item Big Five measure was used to measure openness. The openness items were “Open to new experiences, complex” and “Conventional, uncreative” (reverse coded).

Drug Use Measures

Sixty-two psychotropic drugs were obtained from the National Alliance on Mental Illness’s (NAMI, 2010) list of commonly prescribed psychotropic medications. Participants rated their use of these drugs on a 7-point scale.

Participants reported their use of legal and illegal drugs over the last month and over the span of their entire life.

Self-report drug use measures have been found to be highly correlated with how peers would rate that person’s drug use. Furthermore, urinalysis and self-report measures were strongly related, making self-report measures a reliable way to measure drug use.

This study used Kaufman and Baer’s (2004) 6-item measure to assess participants’ perceptions of their own creativity. The Cronbach’s alpha was .82.

We used Ivcevic’s (2007) checklist of everyday and artistic creative behaviors, which consists of 22 items and 20 items, respectively. The checklist has been shown to be reliable and correlate with other self-report measures of creativity.

Participants were instructed to write a caption for an ambiguous photograph. Five quasi-expert raters independently evaluated every photograph caption and showed strong agreement across a number of captions written by a single participant.

Statistical Modeling

We tested several measurement models using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using Mplus, and estimated models using Weighted Least Squares Mean and Variance-Adjusted (WLSMV).

We followed Byrne (2001) and Schweizer (2010) recommendations and tested model fit using four indices: chi-square, Comparative Fit Index, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR). Values less than 2 indicate a good fit.

Measurement Models on Drug Variables

We conducted CFA on the self-reported psychotropic drug use items and found an inverted “J” shaped distribution. We then tested three models in a CFA for categorical variables in Mplus and found the best model was a two-factor model with prescription drug use on one factor and nonprescription drug use on another factor.

An EFA was performed on the FIPSE Alcohol and Drug Survey Long Form, and four factors were identified, including drug use within last month, alcohol consumption regardless of time, drug use over a person’s entire life, and wine consumption.

Measurement Models for Creativity

We tested four models for creativity: a single factor, a two-factor solution, a three-factor solution, and a four-factor solution. The four-factor model had the best fit.

Structural Equation Modeling: Drug Use and Creativity

We tested whether drug latent variables predicted creativity measures by summing the items from the scales to form subscales, aggregating the four variables on the self-reported psychotropic drug checklist into one factor, and splitting the items from the self-report illegal drug checklist into three subscales.

We estimated a model that included the latent drug factors and the openness to experience factor and found that the drugs variables were predictive of creativity over this personality trait.

We found that self-reported lifetime use of illegal drugs was significantly associated with rated caption creativity, self-reported everyday creative behaviors, and self-reported artistic creative behaviors. Openness to experience was the highest correlated factor with all creativity measures.

DISCUSSION

The current study explored the relationship between self-reported drug use and creativity. Openness to experience was the strongest predictor of creativity, both for behavioral and self-reported creativity, and partially deviated from the prediction that self-reported drug use would predict self-reported creativity.

We found partial support for our predictions on the self-reported creativity measures, including relationships to marijuana, alcohol, and psychotropic drug use.

Many laypeople believe that alcohol and marijuana heighten their creativity, so they are more likely to rate greater engagement in everyday creative behaviors. However, actual rated creativity is not a predictor of alcohol and marijuana usage.

Illegal drug use (within the last month) predicted artistic creativity, mirroring past work. Creative artists and musicians report greater drug use than control groups of non-artists, and believe that such behavior helps them with their creativity.

Psychotropic drugs had a negative effect on self-reported artistic creative behaviors. This finding may reflect a belief that drugs inhibit creativity, or a misconception that creative people must do everything in order to be creative.

The belief that medications for ADHD (such as Ritalin) may hamper creative ability persists in both the media and science, yet the evidence for a connection is poor.

The rated creativity measure exhibited some notable effects as well, with self-reported illegal drug use over one’s lifetime predicting measured creativity. However, this relationship may be indirect, as the study did not measure trait or state affect.

Limitations

The current study has several important limitations, including the use of self-report measures and the use of non-invasive methods to test for drug use.

We used self-reported measures of creativity in our analyses, which may be biased due to expectancy effects. Future research should include a variety of creativity tasks and test whether expectancy effects exist that are in line with our self-reported measures.

We had a large number of female participants in our sample, and although there were some differences in male-female drug usage, both genders were equally likely to use drugs following the initial offer.

Implications and Conclusion

The current study sought to investigate the link between drug use and creativity. The results suggest that beliefs about the relationship between creativity and drugs may be just as important as the actual effect of the drug.