Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale (K-DOCS)

The Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale (K-DOCS; Kaufman, 2012) is a self-report measure of creativity that is intended to be domain-specific. It is an evolution of a number of past-self assessments I have done, including many with John Baer.

The K-DOCS has five factors: Everyday, Scholarly, Performance, Scientific, and Artistic; each represents different domains of creativity.

The K-DOCS has demonstrated convergent validity across several studies using other self-report measures (McKay et al., 2017; Snyder et al., 2021), relevant college major (Kandemir & Kaufman, 2020) and occupation (Miroshnik et al., 2021), and performance measures (Brauer et al., 2022; Pretz & Kaufman, 2017). It has also demonstrated discriminant validity (Brauer et al., 2022; Kaufman et al., 2021; McKay et al., 2017) and invariance for both ethnicity and gender.

Many people reach out to me to ask permission to use the scale. I am happy to give permission. Just drop me a line. I have linked the relevant articles and the scale here so all of the information is in one place.

References:

Brauer, K., Sendatzki, R., Kaufman, J. C., & Proyer, R. T. (2022). Counting the muses in German speakers—Evaluation of the German-language translation of the Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scales (K-DOCS).Psychological Test Adaptation and Development, 3(1), 70–84. https://doi.org/10.1027/2698-1866/a000024

Kandemir, M. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2020). The Kaufman domains of creativity scale: Turkish validation and relationship to academic major. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 54(4), 1002-1012. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.428

Kapoor, H., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Kaufman, J. C. (2021). Norming the Muses: Establishing the Psychometric Properties of the Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 39(6), 680–693. https://doi.org/10.1177/07342829211008334

Kapoor, H., Zheng, M., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Kaufman, J. C. (2023). Toward equitable creativity self-assessment: Measurement invariance and mean differences across ethnicity in the Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000594

Kaufman, J. C. (2012). Counting the muses: development of the Kaufman domains of creativity scale (K-DOCS). Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 6(4), 298-308. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029751 

McKay, A. S., Karwowski, M., & Kaufman, J. C. (2017). Measuring the muses: validating the Kaufman   domains of creativity scale (K-DOCS). Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 11(2), 216-230. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/aca0000074

Miroshnik, K. G., Shcherbakova, O. V., & Kaufman, J. C. (2022). Kaufman domains of creativity scale: Relationship to occupation and measurement invariance across gender. Creativity Research Journal, 34(2), 159-177. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2021.1953823

Pretz, J. E., & Kaufman, J. C. (2017). Do traditional admissions criteria reflect applicant creativity?. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 51(3), 240-251. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.120

Snyder, H. T., Sowden, P. T., Silvia, P. J., & Kaufman, J. C. (2021). The creative self: Do people distinguish creative self-perceptions, efficacy, and personal identity? Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 15(4), 627–636. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000317

Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale (K-DOCS)

Instructions: Compared to people of approximately your age and life experience, how creative would you rate yourself for each of the following acts? For acts that you have not specifically done, estimate your creative potential based on your performance on similar tasks.

1                                  2                      3                                  4                                  5

Much less                   Less                Neither more             More               Much more

creative                      creative          nor less creative        creative          creative

1.        Finding something fun to do when I have no money _____

2.        Helping other people cope with a difficult situation _____

3.        Teaching someone how to do something _____

4.        Maintaining a good balance between my work and my personal life _____

5.        Understanding how to make myself happy _____

6.        Being able to work through my personal problems in a healthy way _____

7.        Thinking of new ways to help people _____

8.        Choosing the best solution to a problem _____

9.        Planning a trip or event with friends that meets everyone’s needs _____

10.     Mediating a dispute or argument between two friends _____

11.     Getting people to feel relaxed and at ease _____

12.     Writing a non-fiction article for a newspaper, newsletter, or magazine _____

13.     Writing a letter to the editor _____

14.     Researching a topic using many different types of sources that may not be readily apparent _____

15.     Debating a controversial topic from my own perspective _____

16.     Responding to an issue in a context-appropriate way _____

17.     Gathering the best possible assortment of articles or papers to support a specific

point of view _____

18.     Arguing a side in a debate that I do not personally agree with _____

19.     Analyzing the themes in a good book _____

20.     Figuring out how to integrate critiques and suggestions while revising a work _____

21.     Being able to offer constructive feedback based on my own reading of a paper _____

22.     Coming up with a new way to think about an old debate _____

23.     Writing a poem _____

24.     Making up lyrics to a funny song _____

25.     Making up rhymes _____

26.     Composing an original song _____ 

27.     Learning how to play a musical instrument _____

28.     Shooting a fun video to air on YouTube _____

29.     Singing in harmony _____

30.     Spontaneously creating lyrics to a rap song _____

31.     Playing music in public _____

32.     Acting in a play _____

33.     Carving something out of wood or similar material _____

34.     Figuring out how to fix a frozen or buggy computer _____

35.     Writing a computer program _____

36.     Solving math puzzles _____

37.     Taking apart machines and figuring out how they work _____

38.     Building something mechanical (like a robot) _____

39.     Helping to carry out or design a scientific experiment _____

40.     Solving an algebraic or geometric proof _____

41.     Constructing something out of metal, stone, or similar material _____

42.     Drawing a picture of something I’ve never actually seen (like an alien) _____

43.     Sketching a person or object _____

44.     Doodling/Drawing random or geometric designs _____

45.     Making a scrapbook page out of my photographs _____

46.     Taking a well-composed photograph using an interesting angle or approach _____

47.     Making a sculpture or piece of pottery _____

48.     Appreciating a beautiful painting _____

49.     Coming up with my own interpretation of a classic work of art _____

50.     Enjoying an art museum _____