The relationship of reading ability to creativity: Positive, not negative associations ☆ Stuart J. Ritchie a, ⁎, Michelle Luciano a, b , Narelle K. Hansell c , Margaret J. Wright c , Timothy C. Bates a, b, ⁎ a Department of Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK b Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK c Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia article info abstract Article history: It has been argued that reading disability may be accompanied by compensatory enhancements in creativity. Received 18 October 2011 Here, we assessed reading, spelling and nonword repetition in a large, representative sample of adolescents Received in revised form 30 January 2013 and young adults, and examined associations with creativity, indexed by trait Openness to Experience and a Accepted 24 February 2013 creative writing task. Creativity and reading ability were significantly associated in a series of regression models controlling for IQ, age, and sex, but the effect was in the opposite direction to that predicted by Keywords: compensation hypotheses: Higher reading scores were associated with higher scores on creativity measures. Reading Dyslexia We discuss possible explanations for this finding, suggesting a ‘facilitation’ hypothesis by which reading abil- Learning disabilities ity might facilitate creative thinking. Creativity © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Research indicates that dyslexia – defined here as reading ability in the lower tail of the normal distribution (Bates et al., 2011; Shaywitz, Escobar, Shaywitz, Fletcher, & Makuch, 1992) – is not incompatible with high levels of intelligence or creativity (e.g. Shaywitz, 2003; Wolf, 2007) and that it is distinguishable from general cognitive abil- ity at both the psychological and biological levels (Gabel, Gibson, Gruen, & LoTurco, 2010; Luciano et al., 2007; Marlow et al., 2003). However, beyond this, it has been suggested that reading disability may involve a compensatory cognitive benefit in the form of enhanced creativity (e.g. Chakravarty, 2009; Davis & Braun, 1997; Eide & Eide, 2011; LaFrance, 1997; Rack, 1981; Tafti, Hameedy, & Baghal, 2009; West, 1997). Here, we examine this compensatory cognitive benefit hypothesis in a large sample with measures of reading and a trait mea- sure linked to creative ability and a creative writing measure. Support for the compensation hypothesis has come from a relatively small number of studies, generally with small sample sizes and varying conceptions of reading disorder. Nevertheless, their results are consis- tently in favor of a link between reading disorder and creativity. For instance, in four studies of 14–37 formally-diagnosed dyslexic partici- pants and similar numbers of controls, dyslexic adults showed a small advantage over non-dyslexic adults in both laboratory-based creativity tasks and self-report measures of creativity (Everatt, Steffert, & Smythe, 1999). This effect was not found in dyslexic children aged around 7 years, and on this basis, Everatt et al. (1999) suggested that creative ability might develop over time as a coping mechanism for low literacy. This developmental model is supported by reports of higher creativity scores in older dyslexic children compared to their non-dyslexic peers (Everatt, Weeks, & Brooks, 2008; Tafti et al., 2009). Validity is particularly important in assessing creativity research, and researchers have noted that laboratory-based tasks measuring cre- ativity have only modest predictive or criterion validity (e.g. Dietrich, 2007; Dietrich & Kanso, 2010), prompting the use of additional creativ- ity measures. Two such methods have gained particular prominence: Measuring real-world creative output, such as occupational type, and using comprehensive personality inventories. The former method was used in the context of reading and creativity by Wolff and Lundberg (2002), who reported a significant deficit in phonological processing – measured via word and nonword recognition tests, and not formal diag- noses of dyslexia – in art and photography students compared to stu- dents in the economics department of the same university. Such associations may, however, result from active course-selection effects by students based on their skills in reading. Logan (2009) posited a self-selection theory to account for her finding of increased prevalence of dyslexia among ‘entrepreneurs’– businesspeople requiring creativity and adaptability – compared to ‘corporate managers’– those used to conventional organizational structures and rules. Thus, reading disabil- ity may not involve innate compensatory enhancements, but instead may lead some individuals to learn compensatory skills. The second criterion-valid creativity measurement derives from personality theory, in which creativity is associated with the trait of Learning and Individual Differences 26 (2013) 171–176 ☆ The authors would like to thank several anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments on the manuscript. Stuart J. Ritchie is supported by an ESRC +3 PhD Scholarship. ⁎ Corresponding authors at: Department of Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK. Tel.: +44 131 651 3272; fax: +44 131 650 3461. E-mail addresses: stuartjritchie1@gmail.com (S.J. Ritchie), tim.bates@ed.ac.uk (T.C. Bates). 1041-6080/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2013.02.009 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Learning and Individual Differences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/lindif