Dispositional self-regulation strengthens the links between creative activity and creative achievement

This study explores the relationship between creative activity and creative achievement with a focus on the moderating role of dispositional self-regulation. On a large sample (N = 687), we demonstrated robust links between activity and achievement but also found that these associations are moderated by self-regulation. Moreover, the relationship was not only strong in terms of effect size (rs ≥0.50) but followed a necessary-yet-not-sufficient pattern: creative achievement was impossible when activity was low, yet high activity did not guarantee achievement. We discuss theoretical and practical consequences of these findings.