Graduation Year
2005
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Granting Department
Psychology
Major Professor
Michael T. Brannick, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Walter C. Borman, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Bill N. Kinder, Ph.D.
Keywords
Personality test, Personality facets, Context specificity, Five-factor model, Neo pi-r
Abstract
Finding what is alike among the personalities of creative people has been a dream of many researchers. No single personality type has been discovered as prototypical, yet the promise of common attributes among creative people remains enticing. This study examines one of these promising characteristics - Openness to Experience, a personality factor from the Five-Factor Model. This factor has been shown to correlate positively with creativity in past studies. In the present study this relationship was partially confirmed in a sample of employees whose jobs require technical problem solving, by correlating the employees self-rated Work-specific Openness to Experience and NEO PI-R Openness with supervisory ratings of their creative work performance. The Work-specific Openness scale demonstrated a significant correlation with supervisory ratings of creativity, whereas the NEO PI-R Openness scale did not. Although none of the NEO PI-R facets were significant predictors of criterion, four Work-specific facets were significant predictors based on zero order correlations. These facets are Openness to Ideas, Fantasy, Values, and Actions. However, although individual facets of Openness were expected to differ in validity, the magnitude of their correlations with creative performance scores did not differ significantly. Convincing results showing incremental validity of the Work-specific scale over the NEO PI-R scale are also discussed.
Scholar Commons Citation
Pace, Victoria L., "Creative Performance on the Job: Does Openness to Experience Matter?" (2005). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/802
