Researchers from the University of East Anglia and the University of Stirling in the UK have observed the link between autistic traits and creativity. They find that people with more autistic traits could provide fewer potential solutions to problems – what is called “divergent reasoning” – but that the solutions they offered were more original and creative than people non-autistic.
To reach these conclusions, the researchers observed people who displayed behaviors and ways of thinking typically associated with autism, even though most of them had not been diagnosed as such. They analyzed data from 312 people who completed an anonymous online questionnaire to measure their traits autistic. The participants also took creativity tests.
The findings of the study reveal that people with more autistic traits approached problems in a different way. Instead of solving problems in a classic way and arriving at the usual solutions, they are more likely to take another path and arrive at more unusual, unexpected, and creative ideas.
This study follows previous work that has suggested that traits often linked to autism may have benefits.
Autism is a mental disorder, which often develops from early childhood. It is associated with communication difficulties and relationship difficulties with others.
“You could say that people with autistic traits have less quantitatively but qualitatively better creative ideas,” says study co-author Martin Doherty of the University of East Anglia. He adds that “this difference [dans la manière de penser] could have positive consequences for solving problems requiring creativity.”
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