Creativity, paranormal beliefs and cognitive impairment in the elderly

In the case of older people, aesthetic thought and creativity are ways to keep mind and imagination active by contributing to prevent cognitive decline. Furthermore, having a religious belief system or even a belief system or paranormal experiences has proved to be beneficial for the health of the elderly. The objective was to study the relationship between creativity, degree of cognitive impairment and paranormal beliefs. The existence of differences depending on sociodemographic characteristics was analyzed. A group of 36 elderly people (16 men) aged between 66 and 95 years were administered the Mini-Mental State Examination (MEC), the CREA Test and the Paranormal Beliefs Scale. The main outcomes include that: those with better cognitive status are more creative; the less creative subjects had more traditional religious beliefs and even greater superstition; the elderly with better cognitive status were the least superstitious. It is remarkable that men were more creative, while women excelled in traditional religious beliefs. The study allows reflecting on the importance of professionals who work with the elderly to carry out programs to encourage creativity and even collect information about the belief system.