Creative Mindsets: Scale Validation in the Chinese Setting and Generalization to the Real Workplace

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Organizational Behavior
• Creativity Research

Background:

• Creative mindsets, encompassing fixed and growth beliefs, influence creativity.
• Karwowski's (2014) Creative Mindsets Scale (CMS) measures these beliefs.
• Validating the CMS in diverse cultural contexts is crucial for understanding creativity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the psychometric properties of the Creative Mindsets Scale (CMS) in Chinese settings.
• To investigate the generalizability of creative mindsets' effects on creativity in the workplace.
• To explore the relationship between creative mindsets and employee creative performance.

Main Methods:

• Cross-validation of the CMS using survey data from Chinese college students and employees.
• Psychometric analyses including reliability (internal consistency) and validity (construct, convergent, discriminant).
• Regression analyses to assess the predictive validity of creative mindsets on creative performance.

Main Results:

• The CMS demonstrated a robust two-factor structure in Chinese samples, with independent fixed and growth mindset factors.
• The scale exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity.
• Creative mindsets showed incremental validity over intelligence mindsets for creative identity and self-efficacy.
• Growth mindsets, but not fixed mindsets, predicted employee creative performance, mediated by effort.

Conclusions:

• The CMS is a psychometrically sound measure of creative mindsets in Chinese populations.
• Creative mindsets are relevant to workplace creativity, with a growth mindset being particularly beneficial.
• Effort plays a mediating role in the relationship between a growth mindset and creative performance.