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Experiencing more meaningful coincidences is associated with more real-life creativity
- Type
- Study
- By
- PLOS ONE, 2024
- Journal
- PLOS ONE
- Source
- PLOS ONE ↗
- Published
- March 2024
Three studies found that people who report more meaningful coincidences also score higher on real life creativity.
Published in PLOS ONE in 2024, this three-study paper from researchers at the University of Graz found that people who report more meaningful coincidences also score higher on real-life creativity. It is a rare thing on this shelf: recent, peer-reviewed, and entirely respectable.
The result is a correlation, not a mechanism, and both measures are self-report — the authors are careful to say so. What it establishes is that noticing coincidence tracks with a creative mindset, probably through a shared openness to experience. It neither proves nor debunks anything supernatural, which is exactly why both sides cite it.
The meaning
This is a peer reviewed, recent study linking coincidence noticing to creativity, a respectable corner of the topic that is not about predicting the future.
The skeptic
Correlation is not causation, and both measures are self report. The study does not say coincidences are supernatural, only that noticing them tracks with a creative mindset.
About the research
A team of psychologists from the University of Graz studying creativity, openness, and anomalous experiences.
Key takeaways
- Three studies, published 2024 in PLOS ONE.
- People who report more meaningful coincidences also score higher on real-life creativity.
- Openness to experience is the likely shared driver.