Conscious Motivations of Adolescent Visual Artists and Creative Writers: Similarities and Differences

This exploratory study was designed to expand the field’s understanding of talented adolescent visual artists and creative writers and their conscious motivations for engaging in these creative activities. Accordingly, 233 talented high school visual arts (n = 151) and creative writing (n = 82) students were asked to rate the degree to which they believed their creative activities were motivated by each of a wide range of possible motivations. The students in both fields reported being very strongly motivated by the opportunities their activities provided them to use their imaginations, feel free, sense that they were being their “true” selves, regulate their emotions, capture moments in time, deepen their self-understanding, express themselves, improve their skills, and enhance their self-esteem. Some of these motivations correspond closely to those highlighted by theories of intrinsic motivation, competence motivation, and self-actualization, several are similar to those which have been reported by professional artists and writers, and some suggest that the students may have derived important psychological benefits from their creative activities. Theoretically plausible differences between the motivational profiles of the visual and creative writing students were identified and discussed.     

Motives for Creativity: Exploring the What and Why of Everyday Creativity

People spend a lot of time on creative activities in their leisure time, but we still know little about what these activities are and what drives them. The literature suggests that several specific motives may be relevant for everyday creative behavior, including enjoyment, expression, challenge, coping, prosocial, social, material, recognition, and duty motives. Across two online studies totaling 750 participants, enjoyment was the strongest motive for everyday creativity, consistent with previous research linking creativity to intrinsic motivation and positive affect. Importantly, however, the relevance of motives differed across creative domains: visual arts, literature, and music were more strongly motivated by expression and coping motives, whereas handicrafts and creative cooking were more strongly motivated by prosocial and recognition motives. Intrinsic motives for creative activities were substantially related to high openness to experience, but explained incremental variance in the prediction of self-reported creativity as well as rated creative achievements. Together, these findings provide new insights into the motivational basis and function of everyday creativity.     

Teacher's Encouragement on Creativity,Intrinsic Motivation,and Creativity: The Mediating Role of Creative Process Engagement

Drawing on Dewey's pragmatic perspective on talent cultivation and previous research on promoting employee creativity in industry, this study investigates student creativity performance in relation to teacher's encouragement, intrinsic motivation, and creative process engagement. Based on survey data collected from 140 vocational high school students who participated in a nation‐wide contest in Taiwan, path analyses were performed using structure equation modeling techniques. The results indicate that both teacher's encouragement and intrinsic motivation have a significant, although indirect, effect on student creativity, and that creative process engagement, as opposed to teacher encouragement or intrinsic motivation, has a direct and significant mediating effect on student creativity. This finding is in partial agreement with prior research which reports student creativity is positively associated with teacher encouragement and intrinsic motivation, highlighting the mediating role of creative process engagement in facilitating student creative performance.     

Intrinsic Motivation,Organizational Justice,and Creativity

For employees to generate creative ideas that are not only original, but also useful to their company, they must interact with their workplace environment to determine organizational needs. Therefore, it is important to consider aspects of the individual as well as their environment when studying creativity. Intrinsic motivation, a predictor of individual level creativity, is associated with feelings of enjoyment and interest in the task at hand. To the extent that tasks are nested in an environment, intrinsically motivated individuals may perceive their environment more favorably than individuals who are not interested in the task. Specifically, such individuals may view the rewards (i.e., distributive justice), decision-making procedures (i.e., procedural justice), and their interpersonal treatment (i.e., interpersonal justice) in their work environment as more fair, due to the positive affect associated with intrinsic motivation. This study examines the relationships between intrinsic motivation, perceptions of organizational fairness, and creativity. Participants (n = 133) worked on a task in a laboratory setting and completed measures of intrinsic motivation and organizational justice. Findings were supportive that intrinsically motivated participants viewed their environment as fairer than participants that were uninterested in the task. Consequently, distributive and interpersonal justice were shown to significantly mediate the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Effects of social-psychological factors on creative performance: the role of informational and controlling expected evaluation and modeling experience

The impact of two social-psychological factors, expected evaluation and modeling, on creativity was investigated in a laboratory study. The controlling and informational aspects of expected evaluation were manipulated and individuals were provided no example, a standard example, or a creative example of a solution to a representative management problem. As expected, individuals had significantly higher creativity and intrinsic motivation when anticipating an informational rather than a controlling evaluation. In addition, individuals given a creative example had higher creative performance than those given no example. The lowest levels of intrinsic motivation and creativity were found when expected evaluation was of a controlling nature and a standard model was given. Additionally, we tested and found support for Cognitive Evaluation Theory's primary intervening cognitive process of locus of causality mediating the relationship between evaluation and intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation was not found to mediate the relationship between evaluation and creativity, and possible explanations for this result are discussed.     

Openness to Experience Enhances Creativity: The Mediating Role of Intrinsic Motivation and the Creative Process Engagement

Studies indicate that there is a positive relationship between openness to experience and creativity. However, relatively little attention has been given to the mechanism of this relationship. On the basis of previous findings, we hypothesized a conceptual model and tested the mediating role of intrinsic motivation and the creative process engagement in the relationship between openness to experience and creativity. One hundred and ninety‐eight undergraduates in Malaysia participated in the study and completed an online measure of openness to new experience, creativity, intrinsic motivation, and the creative process engagement. Consistent with the hypothesis, people who scored high on openness reported high intrinsic motivation. The high motivation enhanced engagement in creativity‐related activities, which in turn, improved self‐rated creativity. The findings not only shed light on mechanisms that underlie in the openness‐creativity linkage but they also highlight the importance of intrinsic motivation and creative process engagement in the linkage. Together, the study extends the effect of personality trait on creativity and offers a new direction for future studies.     

Dissociative Experiences and Creativity in Fine Arts Students

Studies on creative personality have revealed that the relationship between personality and creativity remains unclear, and various types of creative thinking have been have been associated with various personality traits. To assess the influence of dissociative experiences on creativity in the context of fine arts education, in which the creative process plays a key role, a sample of fine arts students received a test of creative potential and the dissociative experiences test. The results revealed significant differences in creativity (creative imagination and creative experiences) between students scoring high or low in the number of dissociative experiences. High dissociative experiences scores were associated to high scores in creative imagination and creative experiences, and low scores in dissociative experiences were inversely related to creative imagination and creative experiences. Further studies are required to corroborate these findings.     

The Effects of Competition on Improvisers’ Motivation,Stress, and Creative Performance

We explored how competition affects the quality of musical improvisation, as well as the intrinsic motivation and stress reported by improvisers. Amateur musicians improvised on a keyboard in one of two conditions: induced competition and no competition. Employing the consensual assessment technique, improvisations were assessed for creativity and technical goodness by 10 expert judges. Findings indicate that improvisations were judged as more creative under competitive than non-competitive conditions. Moreover, improvisers in the competition condition were more intrinsically motivated, as well as more stressed, than improvisers in the no competition condition. The creativity and technical goodness dimensions of improvisations were positively related to each other. The findings are discussed in light of the intense debate over the effects of extrinsic motivators on intrinsic motivation and creativity and offer mechanisms through which competition may affect creative performance as well as discuss the role of stress in affecting motivation and creativity.     

Autonomous Motivation and Chinese Adolescents’ Creative Thinking: The Moderating Role of Parental Involvement

The relationship between motivation and creativity has long been of interest and many studies have been conducted to demonstrate the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on creativity. The autonomous/controlled distinction of motivation suggested by self-determination theory (SDT) provides a new perspective on the motivation issue. Based on both SDT and the confluence approach of creativity, this study attempted to examine the relationship between autonomous/controlled motivation and creative thinking as well as the moderating role of parental involvement/autonomy support on this relationship. Five hundred and fifty Chinese high school students participated in the study and their autonomous/controlled motivation, parental involvement/autonomy support, and creative thinking were measured. Results indicated that autonomous motivation positively predicted creative thinking, and this relationship was moderated by parental involvement. For both junior and senior high school students, autonomous motivation was more strongly related to creative thinking when there was high maternal involvement. The moderating role of paternal involvement, however, differed between junior and senior high school students and there existed a 3-way interaction effect. Implications of this study for cultivating creativity among Chinese adolescents are also discussed.     

内部动机、外部动机与创造力的关系研究

本研究以277名文科三、四年级的大学生为被试,综合考察在故事、连线和命名任务下,内部动机,外部动机对创造力表现的影响。多变量方差分析发现,对于三个测验的共同部分,内部动机和外部动机的主效应均显著,但交互作用不显著。分别对每个任务进行方差分析发现,对于连线任务而言,内部动机和外部动机的主效应均显著;对于命名任务而言,外部动机的主效应显著,内部动机的主效应不显著;对于故事任务而言,内部动机和外部动机的主效应不显著。内部动机与外部动机之间在三个任务中均不存在显著的交互作用。多重回归分析发现,对于不同的任务,内部动机与外部动机的贡献显著不同。     

创造性人格与员工创造力:一个被调节的中介模型研究

本文基于动机行动和成就动机理论,构建一个被调节的中介模型以检验创造性人格对员工创造力产生的作用机理。以251套来自主管-下属配对的问卷数据为样本,实证分析结果表明:创造性人格可预测员工创造力产生,学习目标导向与绩效证明目标导向在两者之间起部分中介作用;内在动机能够强化个体目标导向对创造力的作用,并显著正向调节创造性人格对员工创造力的间接效应。最后,论文讨论了研究发现对员工创造力产生的理论和实践意义。     

Orientation Toward Intrinsic Motivation Mediates the Relationship Between Metacognition and Creativity

Metacognition and motivation are considered key facets of self-regulation in various contexts. Recent studies identified a link between metacognition and creative performance, with metacognitively aware students performing more creatively and exhibiting higher levels of intrinsic and identified extrinsic motivation. The present study aims to examine the relationship between metacognition, orientation toward intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, and creative performance. One hundred nineteen university students completed the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and Scale of Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Orientation in the Classroom and performed four verbal creativity tasks (product improvement task, consequences task, and two unusual uses tasks). The partial correlation network showed that all the creativity tasks were uniquely related to at least one facet of metacognition, and that the most complex task (product improvement task) was linked to both metacognitive knowledge and regulation. Furthermore, the structural equation model indicated that orientation toward intrinsic motivation mediated the relationship between metacognition and creative performance, explaining 16% of the variance in creative performance.     

Looking Inside the Fishbowl of Creativity: Verbal and Behavioral Predictors of Creative Performance

This study set out to identify specific task behaviors that predict observable product creativity in three domains and to identify which of those behaviors mediate the well-established link between intrinsic motivation and creativity. One-hundred fifty-one undergraduate students completed a motivational measure and were later videotaped while engaging in tasks in three different domains: problem solving (a structure-building activity), art (collage making), and a writing (an American Haiku poem). Behavioral coding and think-aloud protocol analysis yielded reliable measures that, when empirically combined form task process indicators, strongly predicted judge-rated product creativity in each domain. One of the indicators, involvement in the task, served as a mediator of intrinsic motivation's positive influence one creativity. Other indicators reflect domain-relevant skills and creativity-relevant processes, lending support to the componential model of creativity. Theoretical and methodological implications for future creativity research are discussed.     

How Creativity Was Affected by Environmental Factors and Individual Characteristics: A Cross-cultural Comparison Perspective

The purpose of this study was to explore how environmental factors (family environment and school education) and individual characteristics (personality, creative attitudes, and divergent thinking) collectively affect creative achievement of American and Chinese college students. Data were collected from 378 college students in the United States (N = 193) and China (N = 185). Results showed that the US sample had significantly higher means in home resources, high-school education, Conscientiousness, creative achievement, and all four dimensions of the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA) than the China sample. In contrast, the China sample scored significantly higher in understanding the importance of creativity. Results indicated creative attitudes and divergent thinking sequentially mediated the effects of parental values on creative achievement for the US sample, whereas Openness mediated the effect of high-school education on creative achievement for the China sample. For both samples, creative attitudes mediated the effect of Openness on divergent thinking. The results suggested cultural differences in the effects of environmental factors on creativity, yet more similar findings in the effects of individual characteristics on creativity between the two samples. The results and implications are discussed.     

From STEM to STEAM: Cracking the Code? How Creativity & Motivation Interacts with Inquiry-based Learning

STEM subjects enriched with Arts (STEAM) are assumed to enhance science lessons and making them more attractive. A multidisciplinary STEAM module integrating inquiry-based learning was implemented to a sample of 160 students (11–12 years; 43.1% females). In a four-hour lesson, dealing with scientific phenomena surrounding bird flight, students learned at self-explanatory workstations that allowed space for creativity and a high level of autonomy. An arts facet was employed, using collaborative handicraft artwork. A workbook offered guidance, while the teacher’s role was of a passive tutor. A pre-/post-/retention-test design monitored knowledge, motivation, and two factors associated with creativity (Act and Flow) two weeks before, immediately after and six weeks later. The intervention produced long-term knowledge and built stable scores of intrinsic motivation, but self-reported aspects of creativity were not affected with a single STEAM intervention. Thus, it seems obvious that regular training in an adequate sociocultural setting is needed to develop creativity sustainably. Nevertheless, this study monitored the correlation of knowledge motivation and creativity in a science education setting for the first time. The findings indicate that fostering creativity, for example in STEAM environments, is a promising starting point for research into promoting motivation and creativity in educational settings.     

Creativity and experience of a creative task: Person and environment effects

We examined the effects of a person factor (general causality orientation) and an environment factor (threat of evaluation) on creativity and personal experience of a creative collage-making task. Ninety college students completed questionnaires and made a collage under conditions of expected evaluation or no-evaluation. Creativity was a function of participants’ characterizations of themselves as artistic, and among men, of the interaction between environment and person factors. Task experience was affected by environment factors and, marginally, by the interaction of environment and person factors, with participants feeling less competent at the task under threat of evaluation, and exerting the greatest effort when they were under evaluation threat and were higher on control orientation. These findings may have implications for future motivation for creative tasks.     

From Implicit Theories to Creative Achievements: The Mediating Role of Creativity Motivation in the Relationship between Stereotypes,Growth Mindset,and Creative Achievement

Research has demonstrated that implicit theories of creativity are crucial in shaping an individual’s behavior and real‐life decisions toward being creative. The present study proposed and examined the underlying mechanisms of how two kinds of implicit theories—the growth mindset of the creative self and the stereotype of creative others—are associated with creative achievements through the mediating role of creativity motivation. Participants were 606 undergraduate students who were enrolled in an education major in two universities in China. Overall, the study found that Chinese students held a positive image toward a creative student, regarding him or her as highly competent, warm, and popular. Student perceptions of a creative other were positively related to their growth mindset of creativity. Moreover, results verified both the mediating role of creativity motivation on growth mindset, as well as the effect of positive stereotyping of the creative other on students’ creative achievement. These findings point to promising creativity motivation strategies including the cultivation of a malleable view of creativity and of creative role models, that may, in turn, promote creative achievement by encouraging students to do, learn, and accomplish new things.     

科技人员创造动机与创造力的研究

本研究初步探讨了我国科技人员创造动机与创造力的关系及其基本特征。 1 74名科技人员回答了成就目标、内部动机与外部动机、创造动机和创造力问卷。研究结果表明我国科技人员有较高的创造力和创造动机水平 ,在动机中内部动机水平最高。在动机与创造力的关系上 ,内部动机对创造力的直接与间接影响均达到了显著水平 ,外部动机对创造力的负面影响没有达到显著水平 ,任务目标对创造力无影响 ,自我目标对创造力的积极影响未达到显著水平。     

A Correlational Study of Creativity,Happiness, Motivation,and Stress from Creative Pursuits

This study examined the relationship of creative capacity with happiness, affect, motivation, and stress from creative pursuits using a sample of 420 students. In addition, it tested whether a relationship existed between overall creative capacity and specific styles or approaches to creative expression. A composite creative capacity score was derived from four creative capacity measures. Creative capacity was not significantly correlated with happiness, but it correlated significantly with positive and negative affect scales and with their absolute sum. Creative capacity correlated highest with intrinsic motivation (IM) among all variables. Creative capacity and IM correlated similarly in direction and magnitude with creativity styles subscales of Belief in Unconscious Processes, Use of Techniques, and Use of Senses, and negative correlations with the Use of People and Final Product Orientation Subscales.