Correlates between imagination types and abilities in designing works

A variety of studies have attempted to explain the dispositions of imagination; notably, imagination engages and develops an individual’s creativity. In the present study, we propose that three types of imagination dispositions (i.e., epistemic, sensory, and future imagination) serve as cognitive mechanisms for the ability to efficiently generate new ideas relevant to imagination with-making and imagination without-making. The correlates between imagination disposition and imagination with-making and imagination without-making were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results showed that epistemic imagination was positively related to imagination with-making, but not to imagination without-making; future imagination was positively related to imagination without-making but was not related to imagination with-making; and sensory imagination was positively related to both imagination with-making and imagination without-making. Moreover, imagination without-making was positively related to imagination with-making. The results of this study offer a practical model for understanding imaginative disposition and ability, and provide a framework for future studies to explore imagination disposition and ability in various areas, such as craft creation.