Acta Psychologica Sinica

Abstract

This study was intended to examine how much Chinese people in Beijing, Guangzhou, Taipei and HK might share or differ on their view of creativity or creative figures. Specifically, it examined the implicit conception of creativity and creative people among a sample of 451 undergraduates in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taipei. A Likert style questionnaire consisting of 60 adjectives was administered to the undergraduates and in addition, each respondent was required to nominate up to three most creative historical modern figures in China as well. The results showed that (a) the core characteristics of creativity identical in all the samples were: originality, innovativeness, thinking and observational skills, flexibility, willingness to try, self confidence, and “imagination”; (b) the Taipei sample, unlike the other three samples, do not associates wisdom, assertiveness, and individualism with creativity; (c) in all Chinese populations the three factors labeled innovative, dynamic, and intellectual were distinguishable in the concept of creativity; (d) a number of specifically Chinese personality traits were identified as not beneficial for creativity ; (e) artistic and humorous were consistently missing in the Chinese perception of creativity. In short, the respondents in the four cities shared much more than they differed in their implicit conception of creativity. Additionally, politicians were unanimously nominated by all four samples as being the most creative people in the past and at present. Scientists and inventors ranked second in position. Taken together, they occupy over 90 percent of the total number of nominations. Thus, it may be concluded that the Chinese young people are heavily inclined to associate creativity with political and scientific accomplishments. The paper ends with a discussion on the practical implications of the present findings on educational reforms in China as well as some methodological concerns for further studies on the issue.

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