The Correlation between Blood Type and Creativity

Abstract
The Correlation between Blood Type and Creativity is meant to help confirm or deny the
strong connection between blood type and personality prevalent in Japanese culture. To narrow
down the experiment, one personality trait was selected to test- creativity. According to popular
belief, creativity is associated with people with blood type A. Testing was done by making
participants draw on 6 identical templates for one minute and 30 seconds. All participants were
American high school students, not actively exposed to the idea of correlation between certain
personality traits and blood type, thus virtually eliminating the possibility of a self-fulfilling
prophecy. Data was evaluated using scales adapted from the Torrance Tests of Creative
Thinking: fluency, or how many drawings the participant provided; flexibility, the number of
different subjects the participant provided; originality, how statistically unique the subjects the
participant portrayed were compared to the bigger body of data; and elaboration, how detailed
the drawings were. Although the highest scorers were participants with blood type A, so were the
lowest scorers. Participants with blood type AB scored the highest on average, almost 20%
higher than type A. With such a disparity in scores, it is not likely that the attribution of
personality traits to blood types is credible. Our results could be further supported by testing a
larger number of participants for multiple personality traits. Such a study, alongside ours, could
help end the prejudicial tendencies caused by the blood type theory in Japan.

Question
Is there a genuine link between blood type and personality?

Background Research
Blood type is considered a major factor in determining a the personality of an individual in
modern Japanese culture. This link was first presented in study done by Furukawa Takeji in the
1920s, but was popularized without proper testing. More recently, a 2002 study done at
Ochano7nizu University found these blood type-assigned personality traits to be a self-fulfilling
prophecy among Japanese people who were active believers in the theory. Although there are
some credible studies that suggest that blood type may have a role in cognitive ability, such as
one done by REGARDS demonstrating a link between blood type and memory loss, the idea of a
correlation between personality and blood type has been widely disputed.

Procedure
Creativity levels were measured by having participants draw on paper with multiple pre-printed
simple figures for 90 seconds. The figures were the same for each person. The testing sheets
were handed out facedown, and participants were instructed not to turn them over until timing
began. Subjects were able to draw anything that came to mind until time ran out. Materials
included paper with pre-printed figures as well as pencils. Participants with unknown blood types
were also tested, and their results were used to help create the scale on which the test was graded.

Grading Scale
Fluency: How many drawings did the participant provide? The more drawings, the higher
the participant will be rated in creativity. One point for each drawing. (1-6)
Flexibility: How many different subjects did the participant draw? One point for each
different subject. (1-6)
 Originality: How statistically unique were the participants drawings? 2 points for not
drawing people, 2 points for drawing outside the circle or 3 pts for using the line for more
than just a single line (0-5)
Elaboration: How much detail did the participant provide in their drawings? These are
not graded only on artistic ability, just the idea the participant was trying to convey. (1-3)

Results
Conclusion
With the wide distribution of creativity scores from Type A participants coupled with a low
average, it is apparent that there is no strong correlation between blood type and personality.
Furthermore, although Type A scores were on average lower, the divide between the overall
scores of the blood types is within a 3.5 point range. This means that no blood type can be
declared more creative by a significant amount-- that is, there are creative people and not
creative people possessing each blood type. This conclusion is also supported by the fact that no
blood type consistently scored the highest or the lowest in each subcategory; even type AB, with
the highest average overall score, ranked second in fluency and flexibility.

Applications/Future Research:
This was a study of a relatively small scope, only teenagers were examined for one trait. A
bigger experiment, examining all the personality traits claimed to be correlated to blood type,
could be performed to completely disprove the theory.

There are also further opportunities for research when considering the widespread popularity the
theory of personality determined by blood type in Japan. The United States has a similar trend-
astrology- but it is much less commercialized and prevalent in American society in comparison
to blood type in Japanese culture. Is it easier to lend oneself to believe- and therefore complete a
self-fulfilling prophecy- in the credibility of blood type over birth date in determining ones
personality? Is there a certain social element that makes this belief popular in Japan over all
others?

These results add to the growing body of data against the unnecessarily divisive and
discriminatory practices common in Japan concerning blood type. In Japanese video games, the
player often has to say what his/her blood type is. Many dating services also use blood types as
one of the specifications as to how they match people up with one another. This idea is in many
schools, as well, so teaching methods can be matched with the blood type of each student. These
outdated methods are not scientifically based and ineffective.