Is creativity without intelligence possible? A Necessary Condition Analysis

This article extends the previous studies on the relationship between intelligence and creativity by providing a new methodology and an empirical test of the hypothesis that intelligence is a necessary condition for creativity. Unlike the classic threshold hypothesis, which assumes the existence of a curvilinear relationship between intelligence and creativity, the Necessary Condition Analysis (Dul, 2016) focuses on and quantifies the overall shape of the relationship between intelligence and creativity. In eight studies (total N=12,255), using different measures of intelligence and creativity, we observed a consistent pattern that supports the necessary-but-not-sufficient relationship between these two constructs. We conclude that although evidence concerning the threshold hypothesis on the creativity-intelligence relationship is mixed, the "necessary condition hypothesis" is clearly corroborated by the results of appropriate tests. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.