Creativity, personality, and hoarding behavior

Abstract Compulsive hoarding is a debilitating illness that is characterized by excessive collection of and failure to discard items, irrespective of their uselessness or hazardousness. Anecdotal evidence suggests that individuals who hoard may be more creative than individuals without hoarding beha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatry research 2014-12, Vol.220 (1), p.322-327
Main Authors: Hezel, Dianne M, Hooley, Jill M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis
Anxiety Disorders - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Compulsive Behavior
Creativity
Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - diagnosis
Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - psychology
Distress tolerance
Female
Hoarding disorder
Hoarding Disorder - diagnosis
Hoarding Disorder - psychology
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Neuroticism
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - diagnosis
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - psychology
Personality
Personality Disorders
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Self Report
Young Adult
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Summary:Abstract Compulsive hoarding is a debilitating illness that is characterized by excessive collection of and failure to discard items, irrespective of their uselessness or hazardousness. Anecdotal evidence suggests that individuals who hoard may be more creative than individuals without hoarding behavior; however, this hypothesis has never been tested empirically. In the present study, we examined the relationship between hoarding symptoms and performance on a series of creativity measures. We also explored the extent to which hoarding symptoms were associated with factors such as personality, impulsivity, distress tolerance, and attitudes about money and the environment. Our findings revealed no significant associations between hoarding behavior and any measure of creativity. Hoarding behavior was also unrelated to attitudes about money or concern about the environment. However, consistent with previous research, hoarding tendencies were correlated with higher levels of neuroticism and impulsivity, as well as with lower levels of conscientiousness and distress tolerance. Implications of these findings are discussed.
ISSN:0165-1781
1872-7123
DOI:10.1016/j.psychres.2014.07.037