An orchestra of athletes: Comparing perceptions of
creativity held by team athletes and group musicians
Neil Livingstone
London College of Music
Supervisors:
Professor Robert Sholl
London College of Music
Professor David Osbon
London College of Music
In a world that is facing uncertainty through the rapid enhancement of AI, political unrest across the globe, and an ever-increasing urgency regarding climate change, human creativity is perhaps the key to navigating the ever-increasing demands we face. The domains of sport and music represent opposite ends on a range of domains associated with creativity, with sport often marginalised and music considered a place for creativity to flourish. Addressing both ends of this range allows us to better understand the phenomena of creativity. This study investigated the perceptions of creativity held by individuals participating in sports teams and individuals participating in music groups. The study was conducted to see how these perceptions related to Joy Paul Guilford’s ideas of convergent and divergent thinking, and if differences between domains were apparent. The study was conducted by having sixty individuals, 29 from sports teams and 31 from music groups, respond to a survey questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed based on the reading of previous literature, drawing out the key aspects of domain specific and domain general creativity. The questionnaire was analysed quantitatively, using frequency analysis, and qualitatively, through coding and thematic analysis. The study found that individuals across the two domains shared views regarding most facets of creativity, with Guilford’s divergent thinking identified as significant. However, those from music groups did favour elements associated with group creativity more so than those from sports teams. The study was also able to generate nine themes from participant responses including: Thinking Differently, Products, New Ideas, Mental State, Work, Domain Participation, Mindset, Environment and Basic Skills. This study highlights creativity as being the interaction of multiple elements, thus highly complex. The findings of this research inspired my current PhD research on creativity, group improvisation and musical spaces.