Updated 3 November 2026
How creative am I?
IPIP originality and creativity scale, 8 items, 2 minutes
Creativity, as a trait, is seeing yourself as someone who comes up with new ideas and new ways of doing things. These eight statements are the public-domain IPIP scale for the originality and creativity strength.
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0 of 8 answered. Describe yourself as you generally are now, not as you wish to be in the future. Describe yourself as you honestly see yourself, in relation to other people you know of the same sex as you are, and roughly your same age.
Your results
Your answers and results are stored only in this browser, on this device. Nothing is sent to us. A share link carries your scores in the link itself.
Understanding your scores
Creativity
High. People who score high say they come up with new and different ideas, like to think of new ways to do things, are original thinkers and have an imagination that stretches beyond their friends'. In daily life that shows as improvising, questioning how things are done, and a taste for making rather than following. The scale measures self-rated originality, a strength that overlaps with openness to experience; it does not measure creative output, talent or training.
Low. People who score low say they do not pride themselves on being original, are not considered to have new and different ideas and have no special urge to do something original. In daily life that shows as a preference for proven methods, improving on what exists rather than replacing it, and comfort in following a good plan. It is not a lack of skill: much valuable work is careful execution, and many low scorers are the people who make others' ideas actually happen.
How reliable is this test
Internal consistency (coefficient alpha) per scale, as published:
| Scale | Published |
|---|---|
| Creativity | 0.85 |
Coefficient alpha as given on the key page, https://ipip.ori.org/newVIAKey.htm, accessed 3 November 2026.
No published norms exist for this instrument, so the results show raw scores against the possible range and no percentiles.
The IPIP key page gives coefficient alpha of .85 for this scale and no test-retest figure. Personality scores are fairly stable over weeks; a change of a few points between attempts is usual.
Limits worth knowing: this is self-rated originality, not a measure of creative output or talent; eight items with no published norm sample for the scale on its own.
Guides that cover this
Questions people ask
Does this test measure creative ability?
No. It measures whether you see yourself as original and inclined to find new ways of doing things. Creative ability is assessed with tasks, not self-report, and the two correlate only moderately.
Why only eight items?
The IPIP key page lists ten items for this scale but marks two as omitted from the scored version; the site keeps the eight the key scores.
Why is there no percentile on this test?
No norm sample has been published for this scale on its own, and the site never estimates or invents norms. Your marker is drawn against the possible range instead, and the page says so. The Big Five tests do have published norms.
Is a high or low score better?
Neither. Each end has strengths and costs, and the research describes tendencies across large groups, not what any one person will do. The site never colours scores as good or bad.
Where do my answers go?
Nowhere. The test is scored in your browser and the result is kept only on this device. If you choose to share a link, your scores are inside the link itself and nothing is sent to this site.
Sources and licence
Instrument: Creativity. IPIP scales measuring constructs similar to those in the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), International Personality Item Pool.
Scoring key: https://ipip.ori.org/newVIAKey.htm, checked 2026-11-03.
Licence: Public domain (IPIP). Permission is granted automatically for any person to use IPIP items for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial. https://ipip.ori.org/newPermission.htm Credit: International Personality Item Pool, https://ipip.ori.org/.