Empirical exploration of the 4P theory of creativity using virtual reality

In the 4P theory of creativity, Rhodes in 1961 emphasises the importance of different components in human creativity, which arises from the dynamic interplay of four key components: Person, Process, Product, and Press. Following previous studies that focused on relations among the 4P components, we...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chiara Lucifora, Claudia Scorolli, Aldo Gangemi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:Acta Psychologica
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825005566
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849744817305681920
author Chiara Lucifora
Claudia Scorolli
Aldo Gangemi
author_facet Chiara Lucifora
Claudia Scorolli
Aldo Gangemi
author_sort Chiara Lucifora
collection DOAJ
description In the 4P theory of creativity, Rhodes in 1961 emphasises the importance of different components in human creativity, which arises from the dynamic interplay of four key components: Person, Process, Product, and Press. Following previous studies that focused on relations among the 4P components, we conducted an exploratory empirical study with a sample of 60 participants using virtual reality. In our study we investigated: Person through self-report questionnaires on participants' personality and creativity traits; Process through the registrations of users' interactions during a VR task in which they create artworks; Product through a semi-automated ontological analysis of the artworks' features; Press by altering the virtual environment with contextual auditory stimuli.Our research contributes to the study of creativity, using Virtual Reality as a platform for an empirical investigation of the relations between the 4P components of creativity. Our findings suggest an intricate network of components, with significant correlations for 5 out of 6 relations. Our findings are in line with previous research about the relation between Person and Process, between Person and Press, and between Process and Product, and show novel insights about the relation between Person and Product and between Press and Process.We have applied our novel method to the original 4P foundational domains, demonstrating its utility to lay a research ground to formally (via ontological distinctions) and empirically (based on explicit and implicit measures) compare creativity theories that extend 4P components, possibly addressing cognitive abilities, expertise and impact levels, error functionalization, creativity dynamics, etc.
format Article
id doaj-art-6df4c066e8364fb680c627a9d8db0bad
institution DOAJ
issn 0001-6918
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Acta Psychologica
spelling doaj-art-6df4c066e8364fb680c627a9d8db0bad2025-08-20T03:08:17ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182025-08-0125810524310.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105243Empirical exploration of the 4P theory of creativity using virtual realityChiara Lucifora0Claudia Scorolli1Aldo Gangemi2Department of Philosophy, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy; Corresponding author.Department of Philosophy, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, ItalyDepartment of Philosophy, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, ItalyIn the 4P theory of creativity, Rhodes in 1961 emphasises the importance of different components in human creativity, which arises from the dynamic interplay of four key components: Person, Process, Product, and Press. Following previous studies that focused on relations among the 4P components, we conducted an exploratory empirical study with a sample of 60 participants using virtual reality. In our study we investigated: Person through self-report questionnaires on participants' personality and creativity traits; Process through the registrations of users' interactions during a VR task in which they create artworks; Product through a semi-automated ontological analysis of the artworks' features; Press by altering the virtual environment with contextual auditory stimuli.Our research contributes to the study of creativity, using Virtual Reality as a platform for an empirical investigation of the relations between the 4P components of creativity. Our findings suggest an intricate network of components, with significant correlations for 5 out of 6 relations. Our findings are in line with previous research about the relation between Person and Process, between Person and Press, and between Process and Product, and show novel insights about the relation between Person and Product and between Press and Process.We have applied our novel method to the original 4P foundational domains, demonstrating its utility to lay a research ground to formally (via ontological distinctions) and empirically (based on explicit and implicit measures) compare creativity theories that extend 4P components, possibly addressing cognitive abilities, expertise and impact levels, error functionalization, creativity dynamics, etc.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825005566Creativity4P theoryVirtual realityCreativity ontologyEmpirical exploration
spellingShingle Chiara Lucifora
Claudia Scorolli
Aldo Gangemi
Empirical exploration of the 4P theory of creativity using virtual reality
Acta Psychologica
Creativity
4P theory
Virtual reality
Creativity ontology
Empirical exploration
title Empirical exploration of the 4P theory of creativity using virtual reality
title_full Empirical exploration of the 4P theory of creativity using virtual reality
title_fullStr Empirical exploration of the 4P theory of creativity using virtual reality
title_full_unstemmed Empirical exploration of the 4P theory of creativity using virtual reality
title_short Empirical exploration of the 4P theory of creativity using virtual reality
title_sort empirical exploration of the 4p theory of creativity using virtual reality
topic Creativity
4P theory
Virtual reality
Creativity ontology
Empirical exploration
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825005566
work_keys_str_mv AT chiaralucifora empiricalexplorationofthe4ptheoryofcreativityusingvirtualreality
AT claudiascorolli empiricalexplorationofthe4ptheoryofcreativityusingvirtualreality
AT aldogangemi empiricalexplorationofthe4ptheoryofcreativityusingvirtualreality