Twin study: IQ positively correlates with creative achievement, but genes say otherwise

rjhaier · x · 2026-09-29

A behavioral genetic study by Timothy Bates in Intelligence & Cognitive Abilities finds IQ is modestly positively correlated with creative achievement, contradicting the popular 'low IQ, high creativity' myth.

However, twin-based genetic analysis shows creative achievement and general cognitive ability are genetically orthogonal (rg = 0), loading on independent latent traits — meaning the observed correlation is environmental, not genetic. Scientific, artistic, and enterprising creativity share a single creativity factor distinct from g.

Original post →

More from Research

Research channel →