The Creative Self

Effect of Beliefs, Self-Efficacy, Mindset, and Identity

Maciej Karwowski, James C. Kaufman, Maciej Karwowski, James C. Kaufman

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780128099056
• Topic: Psicologia
• Subtopic: Psicologia sociale

The Creative Self reviews and summarizes key theories, studies, and new ideas about the role and significance self-beliefs play in one's creativity. It untangles the interrelated constructs of creative self-efficacy, creative metacognition, creative identity, and creative self-concept. It explores how and when creative self-beliefs are formed as well as how creative self-beliefs can be strengthened. Part I discusses how creativity plays a part in one's self-identity and its relationship with free will and efficacy. Part II discusses creativity present in day-to-day life across the lifespan. Part III highlights the intersection of the creative self with other variables such as mindset, domains, the brain, and individual differences. Part IV explores methodology and culture in relation to creativity. Part V, discusses additional constructs or theories that offer promise for future research on creativity.

• Explores how beliefs about one's creativity are part of one's identity
• Investigates the development of self-beliefs about creativity
• Identifies external and personality factors influencing self-beliefs about creativity
• Incorporates worldwide research with cross-disciplinary contributors

Part I

Broad considerations

Chapter 1: Toward Untangling Creative Self-Beliefs

Chapter 2: Considering Creative Self-Efficacy: Its Current State and Ideas for Future Inquiry

Chapter 3: Creativity and Identity

Chapter 4: Creativity and Free Will: Creative Thought Enhances Personal Freedom?

Chapter 1

Toward Untangling Creative Self-Beliefs

Ronald A. Beghetto^*

Maciej Karwowski^**
* University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States
^** The Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw, Poland

Abstract

In this chapter, we argue that the way researchers (including ourselves) have conceptualized and measured creative self-beliefs may blur important distinctions among these beliefs. We focus our discussion on three key self-beliefs: creative self-efficacy, creative metacognition, and creative self-concept. More specifically, we aim to clarify how these beliefs are conceptually distinct, highlight key areas of conceptual overlap, and offer our recommendations on how researchers might revise or develop new measures that are more aligned with these conceptualizations. Implications for theory and research are also discussed.

Keywords

conceptual confusion

creative self-beliefs

creative self-efficacy

creative metacognition

creative self-concept

creative identity

Terminological infelicities have a way of breeding conceptual confusion

Davidson (2001, p. 154)

During the past decade, creative self-beliefs have garnered a great deal of attention in the creative studies literature. Three key self-beliefs that researchers have focused on during the past several years include the following: creative self-efficacy (CSE, i.e., perceived confidence to creatively perform a particular task), creative metacognition (CMC, i.e., beliefs based on a combination of creative self-knowledge and contextual knowledge), and creative self-concept (CSC, i.e., general beliefs about one’s creative abilities). Researchers view these (and related^a) self-beliefs as shaping one’s creative identity (CI; Karwowski & Barbot, 2016) and have further asserted that they play a key role in determining whether a person will engage in creative performance opportunities, sustain effort when faced with challenges, and ultimately, demonstrate higher levels of creative achievement (see also Bandura, 1997; Farmer & Tierney, this volume; Hsu, Hou, & Fan, 2011; Tierney & Farmer, 2002, 2011).

Although the development of positive self-beliefs can be viewed as a desirable outcome in its own right (Beghetto, 2010; Karwowski, 2016; Mathisen & Bronnick, 2009), a key question is whether creative self-beliefs predict actual creative performance. Research on this issue has yielded promising, but somewhat variable results ranging from virtually zero to moderately positive associations between self-beliefs and actual creative performance (Beghetto, Kaufman, & Baxter, 2011; Furnham & Bachtiar, 2008; Furnham, Batey, Anand, & Manfield, 2008; Karwowski, 2011). These mixed results are found not only across studies but also within studies (e.g., Kaufman, Beghetto, & Watson, 2015; Pretz & McCollum, 2014).

What might account for these variable and somewhat underwhelming results? One possibility is that self-beliefs play a less important role in creative performance than what many researchers think. Although this is a possibility that warrants further exploration, we w...