Creativity, OCD, Narcissism and the Big Five

• This paper examines the personality disorder correlates of creativity.
• This study shows that subclinical narcissism is correlated with self-rated creativity.
• OCD is correlated with self-rated creativity.

The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which measures of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ personality traits predicted creativity, as assessed by the Biographical Inventory of Creative Behaviours and Self-Rated Creativity. In all, 207 participants completed the two creativity inventories and three personality measures assessing the Big Five personality traits (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness-to-experience, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness), Narcissism and Obsessive-Compulsiveness. Results revealed similar personality relationships for both creativity measures. In support of previous research, Extraversion, Openness and Narcissism were positively correlated with creativity. Narcissism was most strongly related to self-rated creativity. OCD was unrelated to the self-rating but was correlated with the Biographical Inventory of Creative Behaviours. Collectively, the Big Five and OCD accounted for between, 29 and 32% of the variance creativity. Confirmatory factor analytic examination of the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory Revised (Foa et al., 2002) and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Ames, Rose, & Anderson, 2006). Limitations were discussed.