Motor dance creativity shows limited associations with other creative behaviours. Exploring domain-specificity in middle-aged adults

The extent to which motor creativity relates to overall creativity still remains unclear, especially in adults without prior experience in dance. This study explored the associations between motor dance creativity, figural creativity, and self-reported measures of creative dispositions in 71 middle-aged adults (agemean = 52.8 ± 5.4; 65 females and 16 males). Participants completed validated questionnaires on creative self-efficacy, emotional creativity, ideational behaviour, and lifetime creative actions, alongside two performance-based tests: a motor improvisation dance task and the Test of Creative Thinking - Drawing Production. Correlation and regression analyses were used to identify potential relationships among these measures, complemented by an exploratory factor analysis to examine their latent structure. Results revealed that motor dance creativity was significantly associated with figural creativity and creative self-efficacy, but not with other self-reports. Regression models showed that creative self-efficacy was the only significant predictor of motor dance creativity, while lifetime creative actions best predicted figural creativity. The factor analysis supported a two-factor structure, differentiating performance-based measures from self-report measures, with limited overlap. These findings offer exploratory evidence that motor dance creativity is only modestly connected to other creative behaviours, supporting its domain-specific and embodied nature. The study adds to the debate on the generality versus specificity of creativity and underscores the importance of embodied, context-dependent approaches for understanding creative behaviour.