Transcendental meditation and creativity: An empirical investigation

Abstract

A claimed benefit of transcendental meditation is increased creativity, although the literature neither supports nor negates such a claim. Four groups of 35 Ss each were administered a battery of 5 creativity measures (the Remote Associates Test, Adjective Check List Creativity Scale, Barron-Welsh Revised Art Scale, Franck Drawing Completion Test, and Similies Test), both before and after a 6-mo period. One group was enrolled in a transcendental meditation program; a 2nd group participated in a relaxation–response program; a 3rd group practiced, within a psychology of creativity course, a variety of creativity-enhancing techniques; the 4th group underwent no special treatment. Only the psychology of creativity group showed significant pre–post increases on 4 of the 5 measures, with no changes for the other 3 groups. The claim that meditation leads to increased creativity is not supported. (21 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)