Dimensional schizotypy, autism, and unusual word associations in artists and scientists

Studies from a range of perspectives provide evidence for a relationship between creativity and the tendency to mental illness. The present study further examined this issue by administering questionnaires measuring the minor features of psychosis and autism to 31 professional “artists” (visual artists and musicians) and 28 professional “scientists” (biological scientists and physical scientists/mathematicians). The Oxford–Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O–LIFE), the Hypomanic Personality Scale, and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), were administered, in addition to a shortened form of the Kent–Rosanoff Word Association Scale. The results provided strong support for the connection of artistic creativity to positive schizotypy and hypomania and the tendency to make unusual word associations, and somewhat weaker support for the connection of scientific creativity to certain components of the autism spectrum.