The Bridging Role of Goals between Affective Traits and Positive Creativity

Abstract

Positive creativity training is crucial for 21st century learning, yet the influence of affective traits and goals with different intentions on positive creativity is unclear. We held a creativity training workshop for fifty-four undergraduates to determine its influence. We first assessed participants’ affective traits (risk-taking, curiosity, imagination, and complexity) using the Test of Divergent Feeling from the Creativity Assessment Packet. Then, we provided participants with twenty-seven products as inspiration sources for designing novel staplers. Each participant was asked to define a certain design goal, for which they chose one of the inspiration sources to generate ideas. We assessed the novelty of ideas and classified them according to the goals with different intentions. Results showed a bridging role of the goals between affective traits and creativity. This role was reflected in positive correlations between (1) curiosity and novelty with effort-saving goals; (2) complexity and novelty with orderliness goals. In addition, we found participants with high risk-taking tended to set versatility goals; the orderliness goal led to the highest novelty of ideas. Our findings suggested that teachers should pay attention to students’ affective traits and guide them to set goals in positive creativity education.

Keywords

• creativity
• affective trait
• goal setting
• novelty
• teaching