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The Effects of Extrinsic Motivation on Scientific and Artistic Creativity among Middle School Students
Author(s) -
Xue Yukang,
Gu Chuanhua,
Wu Jingjing,
Dai David Yun,
Mu Xiaolin,
Zhou Zongkui
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the journal of creative behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.896
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 2162-6057
pISSN - 0022-0175
DOI - 10.1002/jocb.239
Subject(s) - creativity , psychology , mathematics education , social psychology , developmental psychology
The present study tested the effects of extrinsic motivation on scientific and artistic creativity among Chinese middle school students. In Study 1, a between‐groups design was applied to examine the effects of expected rewards on scientific and artistic creativity among 123 students, and in Study 2 the same design was applied to examine the effects of expected evaluation from different raters on scientific and artistic creativity among 120 students. We also considered the effects of grade and gender in both studies. The results of Study 1 indicated that expected material reward had significant negative effects on scientific creativity for 7th graders, while expected social reward had significant positive effects on scientific creativity for 8th graders, and both expected material and social rewards had significant positive effects on artistic creativity. The results of Study 2 indicated that expected evaluation from teachers and classmates had significant negative effects on scientific creativity and significant positive effects on artistic creativity. These results suggest that there is no one‐size‐fits‐all answer to the effects of extrinsic motivation and creativity, Factors such as culture, type of extrinsic motivation, grade, and domains of creativity must be fully considered when cultivating adolescents’ creativity.