Creativity and Emotional Intelligence in Children: A Relational Study

Abstract

Considering that creativity and the emotional intelligence are important characteristics for the healthy and adaptative development of individual, and the lack of studies that seek to compare this constructs, a sample of 162 children aged 9 to 11 years, equally balanced between the sexes, students in fourth and fifth year of a public school elementary school was investigated. The children responded to the Child Figural Creativity Test and the Test of Emotional Intelligence for Children. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that the variables gender and grade had a significant effect only on the creativity measure. The correlations between the factors of emotional intelligence and factors of creativity were not significant, which may indicate the independence of the constructs in this sample. It is suggested new studies with larger sample and diversification of instruments, in order to better investigate the relationship between the two constructs.