Imagination
Personality
Traits
T HE
SIX
CLU ST ERS
AT
A
GLANCE
CLUSTER
WHAT
IT
GOVERNS
TRAITS
01 ·
Generative
Fluency
How
many
ideas
arrive
,
and
how
fast
5
02 ·
Perceptual
&
Imaginal
How
vividly
the
inner
world
is
rendered
5
03 ·
Play
&
Exploration
Appetite
for
the
unfamiliar
and
the
untried
5
04 ·
Narrative
&
Empathic
Imagining
other
minds
and
other
worlds
5
05 ·
Cognitive
Style
How
the
mind
handles
structure
and
ambiguity
5
06 ·
Motivation
&
Identity
What
keeps
the
imaginative
engine
running
5
0 1
Generative
Fluency
5
T RAIT S
The
output
side
of
imagination
—
raw
idea
production
,
associative
range
,
and
the
ability
to
keep
generating
when
a
problem
resists
the
first
answer
.
01
Ideational
Fluency
The
rate
at
which
you
produce
usable
ideas
on
a
given
prompt
or
problem
.
Shows
up
as
:
filling
a
page
with
twenty
options
while
everyone
else
is
still
refining
their
third
.
02
Divergent
Thinking
Comfort
with
many
possible
answers
rather
than
one
correct
one
,
and
the
willingness
to
keep
the
field
open
.
Shows
up
as
:
brainstorming
outward
in
branches
instead
of
converging
on
the
first
workable
solution
.
03
Conceptual
Blending
Merging
two
unrelated
mental
models
into
a
third
that
works
better
than
either
alone
.
Shows
up
as
:
thinking
in
mash
-
ups
— "
a
lending
library
,
but
for
tools
" —
and
finding
the
fit
before
you
can
explain
it
.
04
Remote
Association
Linking
concepts
that
sit
far
apart
in
meaning
,
drawing
on
distance
rather
than
adjacency
.
Shows
up
as
:
an
analogy
from
marine
biology
applied
to
a
payroll
problem
,
and
it
actually
clarifying
things
.
1 / 5
05
Fluency
Under
Constraint
Generating
ideas
when
budget
,
time
,
format
,
or
materials
are
tightly
limited
.
Shows
up
as
:
the
strongest
solution
arriving
at
4:55
pm
on
the
day
of
the
deadline
,
once
the
options
have
narrowed
to
almost
none
.
0 2
Perceptual
&
Imaginal
5
T RAIT S
The
rendering
side
of
imagination
—
how
richly
the
mind
paints
what
is
not
currently
in
front
of
you
.
06
Mental
Imagery
Vividness
The
clarity
,
colour
,
and
sensory
detail
of
pictures
held
in
the
mind
'
s
eye
.
Shows
up
as
:
"
seeing
"
a
finished
room
,
layout
,
or
scene
before
it
exists
—
down
to
the
light
.
07
Absorption
The
capacity
to
become
fully
engrossed
in
an
imagined
,
aesthetic
,
or
narrative
experience
.
Shows
up
as
:
losing
two
hours
inside
a
book
,
a
game
,
or
a
draft
,
and
being
startled
when
someone
says
your
name
.
08
Fantasy
Proneness
A
natural
tendency
toward
rich
,
elaborated
daydreams
and
detailed
inner
worlds
.
Shows
up
as
:
ongoing
storylines
,
invented
people
,
and
mental
side
-
quests
running
quietly
alongside
ordinary
tasks
.
09
Synesthetic
Tendency
A
cross
-
wiring
in
which
one
sense
or
concept
reliably
evokes
another
.
Shows
up
as
:
months
with
colours
,
numbers
with
textures
,
sounds
with
shapes
—
a
private
index
that
makes
recall
easier
.
10
Spatial
Reasoning
Manipulating
objects
,
spaces
,
and
systems
in
three
dimensions
entirely
inside
the
head
.
Shows
up
as
:
mentally
rotating
the
furniture
,
the
shelving
,
or
the
whole
floor
plan
before
anything
gets
moved
.
0 3
Play
&
Exploration
5
T RAIT S
The
appetite
that
drives
imagination
outward
—
toward
novelty
,
experiment
,
and
2 / 5
unfinished
things
.
11
Playfulness
Treating
situations
as
opportunities
to
experiment
rather
than
obligations
to
comply
.
Shows
up
as
:
"
what
if
we
tried
it
backwards
"
as
a
default
reflex
,
even
when
the
current
version
is
working
.
12
Epistemic
Curiosity
Pleasure
taken
in
the
gap
between
what
you
know
and
what
you
could
know
.
Shows
up
as
:
three
browser
tabs
deep
on
a
topic
nobody
asked
about
,
purely
because
the
question
was
interesting
.
13
Novelty
Seeking
A
preference
for
the
new
over
the
familiar
,
even
when
the
familiar
costs
less
.
Shows
up
as
:
choosing
the
unfamiliar
route
,
cuisine
,
or
genre
by
default
—
and
feeling
slightly
restless
when
there
is
nothing
new
to
try
.
14
Exploratory
Drive
Motivation
to
roam
a
space
of
possibilities
without
a
defined
target
or
payoff
.
Shows
up
as
:
prototyping
,
sketching
,
or
researching
things
that
have
no
immediate
application
at
all
.
15
Improvisational
Readiness
Willingness
to
build
in
real
time
,
without
a
script
,
when
the
plan
changes
underneath
you
.
Shows
up
as
:
confident
riffs
when
the
slides
fail
,
the
guest
cancels
,
or
the
demo
breaks
in
front
of
an
audience
.
0 4
Narrative
&
Empathic
5
T RAIT S
Imagination
applied
to
people
and
stories
—
simulating
other
minds
,
other
lives
,
and
other
sequences
of
events
.
16
Narrative
Transportation
Being
genuinely
moved
into
a
story
'
s
world
and
frame
of
reference
,
not
merely
observing
it
.
Shows
up
as
:
finishing
a
novel
and
needing
a
moment
to
re
-
enter
the
actual
room
you
are
sitting
in
.
17
Perspective
-
Taking
Simulating
another
person
'
s
viewpoint
,
constraints
,
and
reasoning
from
the
inside
.
Shows
up
as
:
arguing
the
other
side
well
enough
that
you
sometimes
change
your
own
mind
in
the
process
.
3 / 5
18
Empathic
Resonance
Feeling
into
another
person
'
s
emotional
state
with
both
accuracy
and
warmth
.
Shows
up
as
:
reading
the
unspoken
mood
of
a
meeting
within
the
first
minute
and
adjusting
accordingly
.
19
Simulated
Theory
of
Mind
Building
working
models
of
how
other
people
will
think
and
act
,
then
updating
them
as
evidence
arrives
.
Shows
up
as
:
predicting
which
line
of
a
pitch
will
land
,
and
which
one
will
quietly
lose
the
room
.
20
Storytelling
Fluency
Shaping
raw
material
into
sequence
,
tension
,
and
resolution
without
losing
the
truth
of
it
.
Shows
up
as
:
turning
an
ordinary
Tuesday
into
a
story
people
repeat
back
to
you
a
week
later
.
0 5
Cognitive
Style
5
T RAIT S
How
the
mind
organizes
what
it
imagines
—
how
it
handles
structure
,
uncertainty
,
and
the
space
between
intuition
and
reasoning
.
21
Openness
to
Experience
Receptivity
to
new
ideas
,
aesthetics
,
and
unconventional
values
—
the
broadest
predictor
of
imaginative
behaviour
.
Shows
up
as
:
changing
a
long
-
held
opinion
because
the
argument
was
genuinely
better
,
not
merely
louder
.
22
Tolerance
for
Ambiguity
Staying
functional
and
interested
while
the
answer
is
still
unknown
.
Shows
up
as
:
holding
three
unfinished
options
open
for
weeks
without
forcing
a
premature
decision
.
23
Field
Independence
Perceiving
the
underlying
structure
rather
than
the
surrounding
context
that
camouflages
it
.
Shows
up
as
:
spotting
the
pattern
everyone
else
had
accepted
as
noise
,
or
the
mistake
hidden
in
a
familiar
format
.
24
Intuitive
Processing
Fast
,
non
-
verbal
judgement
that
arrives
before
the
reasoning
that
will
later
justify
it
.
Shows
up
as
:
a
strong
hunch
about
a
person
,
a
design
,
or
a
plan
that
you
can
only
explain
a
week
afterwards
.
4 / 5
25
Rule
Flexibility
Treating
rules
as
defaults
rather
than
laws
when
the
underlying
goal
justifies
the
deviation
.
Shows
up
as
:
asking
"
does
this
rule
still
serve
its
purpose
?"
before
following
it
—
and
being
willing
to
hear
the
answer
no
.
0 6
Motivation
&
Identity
5
T RAIT S
What
sustains
imagination
over
time
—
the
self
-
belief
,
taste
,
and
intrinsic
reward
that
keep
the
work
going
without
an
audience
.
26
Creative
Self
-
Efficacy
Belief
in
your
own
capacity
to
produce
something
worthwhile
from
nothing
.
Shows
up
as
:
starting
before
you
feel
ready
,
because
past
evidence
suggests
the
idea
will
arrive
once
you
begin
.
27
Aesthetic
Sensitivity
A
sharp
,
involuntary
response
to
form
,
proportion
,
sound
,
and
craft
.
Shows
up
as
:
noticing
the
kerning
on
a
menu
before
you
have
read
a
single
item
on
it
.
28
Counterfactual
Thinking
Habitual
rehearsal
of
"
what
could
have
been
"
and
"
what
if
it
went
differently
."
Shows
up
as
:
rewriting
conversations
in
your
head
long
after
they
have
ended
—
and
occasionally
finding
a
better
line
you
actually
use
next
time
.
29
Intrinsic
Idea
Motivation
Generating
ideas
for
the
pleasure
of
the
act
rather
than
for
reward
,
status
,
or
outcome
.
Shows
up
as
:
side
projects
with
no
audience
,
no
monetisation
plan
,
and
no
intention
of
finding
either
.
30
Reflective
Metacognition
Watching
your
own
thinking
as
it
happens
,
and
steering
it
deliberately
.
Shows
up
as
:
knowing
when
to
push
a
draft
further
and
when
to
walk
away
from
it
entirely
.
5 / 5
