Dialectical thinking and creativity among young adults: a postformal operations perspective

Abstract

This study used a post-Piagetian perspective to investigate the relation of dialectical thinking and creative performance in early adulthood. The modified version of the Social Paradigm Belief Scale was employed to measure the development of formal and dialectical thinking among 454 young adults, ages 23 to 40 years (M = 32.1, SD = 4.8). The Divergent Thinking Test estimated their creative performance. Scores on dialectical thinking were positively correlated and scores on formal thinking were negatively correlated with Divergent Thinking Test scores. Planned contrasts indicated that participants in the dialectical thinking group scored higher than did those in the formal thinking group on the six dimensions of the Divergent Thinking Test, i.e., Fluency, Openness, Flexibility, Originality, Elaboration, and Naming. Multiple discriminant analysis with a cross-validation examination showed the linear combination of scores on the six dimensions of creativity included in the Divergent Thinking Test discriminated between formal and dialectical thinking groups; this supported predictions about the relation between postformal thinking and creativity among young adults.