Gender Differences in Creativity: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

In order to understand trends reported in research carried out about gender differences in creativity, a systematic review of the scientific literature on the electronic databases Scielo, Pepsic, CAPES Periodicals, Academic Search Premier, Academic Search Elite, Redalyc, and MEDLINE Complete was held. The 133 publications analysis showed that the articles were published between 1975 and 2020, most of them of international origin (82.71%). Most studies reported gender differences, with 45.20% in favor of women. Another 23.28% in favor of men, and 31.50%, oscillating according to the content evaluated. There was no consensus on the issue since inconsistent results were found, sometimes indicating the predominance of better results achieved by women, sometimes by men, in the same measures. This finding reinforces the importance that studies of this nature consider the influence of other factors, such as attitudes, motivation, opportunities, and the type of measure used to establish more accurate results.