An analysis of data from thousands of twins living in Sweden suggests that artistic creativity may be associated with mental health problems, whereas scientific creativity may not be. The study was conducted by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics and the Karolinska Institute. The findings were published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
According to the researchers, this finding may explain why previous studies have produced conflicting results. It appears that the association largely depends on which form of creativity scientists measure.
The study authors analyzed data from two surveys conducted in 2012–2013 and 2022–2023, involving 14,658 twins living in Sweden. The questionnaires assessed the twins’ achievements in both the arts (music, writing, dance, theatre, and visual arts) and science. The researchers also examined participants’ occupations, mental health-related symptoms, and openness to new experiences.
In the second stage, the scientists assessed participants’ divergent thinking — the ability to generate a variety of ideas to solve a problem. To evaluate mental health, they used medical records (including diagnoses of bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder) as well as self-report questionnaires.
“There has long been a belief that genius and ‘madness’ go hand in hand, particularly in creative fields. Many famous artists are thought to have struggled with mental health problems. However, empirical evidence supporting this association has been inconsistent,” says study co-author Miriam Mosing.
According to another author, Penghao Xia, the analysis did indeed reveal a link between artistic creativity and mental health difficulties:
“Our observations suggest that higher levels of artistic creativity are largely associated with mental health problems, and that genes play an important role in this relationship. However, despite the importance of genes, this does not mean that environmental factors are insignificant. Therefore, further investigation into other possible explanations for this association is still necessary,” Xia said.
Unlike artistic creativity, scientific creativity showed no significant association with mental disorders. In fact, according to some measures, it was associated with fewer mental health difficulties.
The study revealed another interesting pattern: people who had experienced depressive symptoms in the past tended to become more open to new experiences later in life. This trend was also observed among identical twins. According to the researchers, this points to a possible causal relationship between depressive symptoms and openness to new experiences, although further research is needed to establish it conclusively.
The scientists conclude that when examining the relationship between creativity and mental health, not all forms of creativity should be treated alike. Combining artistic and scientific creativity may obscure important differences between them. In future research, the team plans to investigate which specific genes and biological mechanisms underlie the relationship between artistic creativity and mental health.
