Can Traditional Divergent Thinking Tests Be Trusted in Measuring and Predicting Real-World Creativity?

Abstract

Derived from the psychometric tradition of creativity research, divergent thinking (DT) tests are the major instrument for measuring people's creative potential. Although still prevalent, DT testing has received substantial criticism of its validity and practical value. This article focuses on the issue of how to reliably and validly assess and predict people's real-world creative potential. Based on reviews of the literatures on the concept of creativity, creative thinking process, the psychometric approach, and DT tests, we examine 6 major weaknesses of traditional DT instruments: lack of construct validity; not testing the integrated general creative process; neglect of domain specificity and expertise; and poor predictive, ecological, and discriminant validities. This evaluation calls for development of improved psychometric instruments to better capture people's creativity in specific professional domains of interest. Broadening the conceptions of creativity and assessment instruments should allow development of more realistic models and theories and enable the psychometric approach to studying creativity to thrive.