6.6 Level or Style? (Kirton Theory)

Previous studies in the fields of decision‑making and creative thinking have been dominated by concern with efficiency in solving problems and with the frequency with which effective ideas are produced: in other words, with the level of the intellectual process. Less attention has been paid to the different ways in which individuals approach problems or the strategies which consciously or unconsciously are adopted: in other words, to the style of problem-solving. It may be that a main reason for the continued domination of level over style has been that the two concepts have not been sufficiently separated and fit into an adequate theoretical framework. This accounts for, among other things, a plethora of terms but a lack of consistent expected relationships between measures and between measures and correlates.

For Cattell in his 16 Personality Factors, creativity (unspecified as to level or style) is a higher order factor, made up of a number of factors which relate to and correlate with style; however, he also includes an estimate of intelligence (Factor B) with double weighting for good measure. Surely IQ should be regarded as a correlate of level. His creativity factor correlates poorly with the adaptation‑innovation inventory, and so, to almost exactly the same degree, does Jackson's Personality Inventory measure of Creativity. Torrance's Right‑Left Brain Hemispheric Preference conversely correlates highly with adaptation‑innovation (nearly as highly as Myers‑Briggs S‑N and J‑P combined). There seems no good reason why Hemispheric Preference should relate to IQ.

The adaptation‑innovation theory proposed by Kirton does distinguish between level and style. If only by purporting to be solely concerned with style and unrelated to level.