When every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in hell: The relationship between religious fundamentalism and creativity

In spite of its importance, religious individual level differences have not received sufficient attention in the creativity literature. This study investigates the relationship between religious fundamentalism and individual creativity. It also examines the mediating role of need for cognition in this relationship. A sample of 272 Egyptian undergraduate students completed a questionnaire measuring their religious fundamentalism and need for cognition levels. To measure creativity, participants were asked to name creative methods for using a brick and a paperclip. Hierarchical multiple regression, Sobel test, and structural equation modeling confirmed that religious fundamentalism is negatively related to creativity, and that need for cognition partially mediates this relationship.