The Social Psychology of Creativity

Motivation plays a crucial role in the creative process. It is not enough to have unusually high levels of skill or a deep conceptual understanding. In order for students to reach their creative potential, they must approach a task with intrinsic motivation; they must engage in that task for the sheer pleasure and enjoyment of the activity itself rather than for some external goal. Researchers and theorists now understand that there is a direct relation between the motivational orientation brought to a task and the likelihood of creativity at that task. And it is particular features of the school environment and students' daily routine that in large part determine that motivation. The present paper outlines investigations revealing that the typical classroom is fraught with teaching practices and programme features that kill intrinsic motivation and creativity. Research designed to immunise students against the negative effects of these damaging classroom elements is reviewed. The argument is made that the undermining of intrinsic motivation and creativity of performance may be largely driven by an affective, rather than a cognitive, mechanism, and recent cross-cultural data gathered in a non-western educational setting are reviewed.