Interdisciplinary creativity over historical time: a correlational analysis of generational fluctuations

The interdisciplinary relationships among 15 kinds of creative achievement were examined over 130 generations of European history (controlling for linear, quadratic, and cubic time trends). A P-technique factor analysis located 3 major interdisciplinary clusters: (a) discursive (science, philosophy, literature, and music), (b) presentational (painting, sculpture, and architecture), and (c) rationalism-mysticism (physical science and general philosophy vs. religion and painting). A cross-lagged correlation analysis then indicated that minor discursive creators tended to inhibit the development of minor presentational creators in the next generation. Personological, interpersonal, and sociocultural explanations for the findings were discussed.