Affective temperament and creativity in different musical professions

Introduction:
The relationships between mood disorders and creativity are well documented. Higher levels of creativity have been observed in patients with bipolar affective disorder and their relatives. It has also been shown that mild symptoms of the disease or subclinical features of affective temperament are beneficial for creativity. The aim of this study was to assess affective temperament and creativity in three groups of musicians – composers, instrumentalists and vocalists.

Material and methods:
The study group consisted of 96 people (55 men and 41 women) with degree in musical education and actively practicing music, as well as students of musical disciplines. According to their musical profession or field of study, three groups were distinguished within the study group: 31 composers, 32 instrumentalists and 33 vocalists. The TEMPS-A questionnaire was used to assess affective temperament. Selected tasks from the Berlin Intelligence Scale were used to assess creativity.

Results:
Statistical analyses showed that vocalists exhibit higher levels of anxious temperament compared to the other study groups. Vocalists exhibit higher levels of verbal creativity compared to the other study groups, while composers exhibited higher levels of arithmetic creativity. People who declared smoking marijuana exhibited higher levels of creativity compared to the other study participants.

Conclusions:
This study confirms the existence of relationships between affective temperaments and creativity. They also indicate that creativity is not a uniform concept, and its level in various fields may vary depending on the creative discipline performed.