CREATIVITY AND PERCEIVED STRESS OF FEMALE MUSIC THERAPISTS AND HOBBYISTS

Anecdotal and theoretical accounts suggest that creativity may reduce stress and enhance. coping ability. We therefore hypothesized that hig her levels of creativity would be associated with lower levels of stre ss. Ninety-five female nonprofessional musicians (49 music therapists and 46 music hobbyists) participated in the study. Analysis included a hierarchical multiple regression that used type of musician (therapis t or hobbyist), creative thinking, creative personality, and creative behavior as predictors. A significant Type of Musician x Creative Thin king interaction indicated that lower stress levels were associated wi th higher levels of creative thinking for music hobbyists. For music t herapists, there was no relation be tween creative thinking and stress . These findings implicate creative thinking as a coping resource in t he stress-coping process for adult female music hobbyists.