A study of the greater male variability hypothesis in creative thinking in Mainland China: Male superiority exists

•Greater male variability in creativity was tested among adolescents in China.•Results of Variance Ratio supported that boys have greater variability than girls.•Results of Gender Ratio tended to reveal a pattern of male superiority.•Boys outnumbered girls in the higher tails of the creativity score distribution.•In contrast, girls overrepresented in the central region and the lower tails.

This study tested the greater male variability hypothesis in creative thinking with a Chinese student sample in Mainland China. The Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP) was administered to 627 Chinese adolescent boys (n = 332) and girls (n = 295). Results using the boy/girl variance ratio (VR) generally supported the hypothesis that boys have greater variability than girls in creativity test performance. However, results using the boy/girl ratios from different regions of the creativity score distribution revealed a pattern of male superiority. While boys significantly outnumbered girls in the higher extremes, girls tended to outnumber boys in the central region and the lower extremes. Results from an analysis of the means lent further support to the findings of male superiority. Plausible explanations for greater male variability and male superiority in Mainland China are proposed. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.