Between Chaos and Creation: The relation between ADHD symptoms, Creativity and Empathy

The current study focuses on the relationship between the symptomatology of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and creative performance, which explicitly considers empathy as a moderating variable. Although ADHD has been linked to cognitive deficits and augmented creative ideation, the available literature has mostly overlooked the potential role of empathy in the connection. Using the empathizing-systemizing model and relying on the known models of divergent and convergent thinking, the paper sought to determine the possibility of empathy as a means of promoting more adaptive types of creativity in people with higher rates of ADHD symptoms. 145 participants were administered validated self-report measures of symptoms of ADHD (Adult ADHD Self-report Scale [ASRS)), empathy (EQ-10), creative self-concept (Self-Assessment of Self-Concept Scale of the Brain [SSCSB]) and participated in creativity tasks of divergent thinking (Alternative Uses Task [AUT]) and convergent thinking (Remote Associates Test [RAT]). Main effects and interactions between symptom severity in ADHD and empathy were evaluated by performing hierarchical linear regression analyses to assess creative outcomes. The results showed that ADHD symptom severity had a positive effect on both divergent and convergent-thinking scores. Notably, empathy moderates the relationship between ADHD symptoms and creative outputs; high levels of empathy dampened the magnitude of the ADHD- creativity relationship of both divergent and convergent tasks, indicating a regulatory or structuring role of empathy on ideational output. These findings help to form a subtle picture of creativity among people exhibiting ADHD characteristics and emphasize the role of empathy as a possible cognitive and affective resource that can regulate creative processes. The implications in the discussion include the need to embrace cognitive diversity and to design strength-based interventions in educational and psychological support contexts.