Neurotheology, creativity and bipolarity: divergent thinking and hypomanic traits among Arab college students

ABSTRACT

The idea of a connection between creativity and psychopathology has been attributed to our earliest human ancestors. It is also a notion that has, historically, been expressed across cultures. Contemporary research exploring the link between creativity and psychopathology, however, is equivocal. More recently, it has been hypothesized that this is only a subset of mental health problems that are linked with creativity; specifically, approach-based psychopathologies, such as mania and hypomania. This study explored the relationship between creativity (divergent thinking) and approach-based psychopathology (hypomanic traits) among Arab college women (n= 218) in the United Arab Emirates. The study used a Web-based version of the Alternative Uses Task to assess creativity. The study also administered the Hypomanic Personality Scale to assess hypomanic traits/bipolar risk. As predicted, there was a positive correlation between hypomanic traits and creativity. These findings broaden support for the idea of a link between approach-based psychopathologies and creativity. By extension, they lend further tentative support to archaeological hypotheses about the co-emergence of theology, creativity and mental illness.

KEYWORDS:

• psychopathology
• creativity
• mania
• Arab
• shaman

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available at http://www.symplexsoftware.com/jt/data/data.csv

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Zayed University [B19060].

Notes on contributors

Justin Thomas

Justin Thomas is a professor of experimental psychology, with an interest in religion, culture and mental health.

Arwa Al-Hammadi

Arwa Al-Hammadi is a graduate student in clinical psychology at United Arab Emirates University.