Effects of Chronotype and Synchrony/Asynchrony on Creativity An Experimental Study

Individual differences in morningness/eveningness are associated with measures of personality and performance. Yet, little is known about the relationship between morningness/eveningness and creativity. We tested N = 163 participants in the morning or in the evening, using the Composite Scale of Morningness and subtests of the Berlin Model of Intelligence Structure (BIS) Test to measure creativity. Creativity composite scores were derived for fluidity, that is the number of responses, and flexibility, that is the diversity of responses. Morningness was significantly associated with higher fluidity scores. Flexibility scores were positively, but not significantly related to morningness. We observed no significant effects of testing time or synchrony/asynchrony. In a linear regression model, older age, female sex, and higher morningness preference significantly predicted fluidity, indicating that morning types produce more creative solutions than evening-orientated individuals, independent of time of testing. Future studies should aim at replicating this result in larger samples and across other measures of creativity.