Do people become less creative as they get older? Research makes surprising discovery

Study pitting preschoolers against adults mostly in their 20s finds fear of failure and anxiety hamper the grownups

Ask a five-year-old to paint a picture and they will almost instinctively reach for the brush, but ask an adult to do the same and they will often hesitate and shy away. Now researchers say they know why.

While it is widely assumed children are more creative than adults, a new study challenges this notion, finding adults outperform preschoolers on creative tasks but generally feel less confident and more anxious doing them.