Creativity And Creative Self-efficacy From Elementary School To High School ——Their Longitudinal Relations And The Role Of Class Atmosphere

Creativity has been identified as the ability to create product that is original and appropriate.It has been described as the most important economic resource and a core competence required for students to survive in the future.The features and influencing factors of the children's creativity development have been the focus of attention.In the study of creativity development and influencing factors,the researchers found that creative self-efficacy is the necessary condition for individual creativity,which has an important impact on the development of creativity.In recent years,many researchers have found that creative self-efficacy could not only predict creativity,but also creativity could predict creative self-efficacy.There are still several important issues that are worthy of further clarification and investigation.Firstly,most previous studies have only focused primarily on the single-pathway relationship between creativity and creative self-efficacy,but no studies have explored the reciprocal pathways under a comprehensive framework.Secondly,most previous research took into account only cross-section design,there is little research has examined the changes in the reciprocal relations between creativity and creative self-efficacy across time.Therefore,there are reasons to expect the reciprocal relationship between creativity and creative self-efficacy and its change over time.Based on the ecological systems model of creativity development,the development of creativity is not only affected by individual factors,but also related to the environmental factors.For the relationship between creativity and creative self-efficacy of children,the school environment is an important background factor that could not be ignored.The previous studies had found that there was a correlation between class atmosphere and creativity or creative self-efficacy,and the three dimensions of class atmosphere(teacher support,classmate support and class autonomy)could affect creativity and creative self-efficacy.However,the previous studies have not explored the mechanism of class atmosphere in the relationship between creativity and creative self-efficacy.Therefore,there is a great significance to explore the moderated effect of class atmosphere in the relationship between creativity and creative self-efficacy.From above research deficiencies,based on the analysis of the development trend of creativity and creative self-efficacy,this study examined the longitudinal relations between creativity and creative self-efficacy.And this study also examined the potential moderating roles of class atmosphere(teacher support,class autonomy and classmate support)in the longitudinal relations between creativity and creative self-efficacy.This study used the longitudinal research project under the Chinese social and cultural background,and chose the students from elementary school and high school.It selected 231 students of 4^th Grade in elementary school,273 students of 1^stGrade in junior high school,and 86 students of 1^st Grade in senior high school.It used the interviewers'evaluation to investigate the level of creativity in elementary and secondary school,and the creative self-efficacy and class atmosphere of children and adolescents were measured by their own report.For statistical analysis of data,the study used of SPSS19.0 and MPLUS 7.0 software.The main results of the current study were as follows:1.The developmental trend of individual creativity(1)The developmental trend of creativity of elementary school and high school students showed a wave growth trend.Specifically,the total creativity of 4^th?6^th Grades in elementary indicated an upward trend;the decline trend of the freshman to the junior in junior high school;and the upward trend was showed in the senior high school.The developmental trend of three dimensions of creativity(fluency,flexibility,and originality)was roughly the same as total creativity.(2)From elementary school to high school,the gender differences of developmental creativity were differences.Specifically,in the 4^th?6^th Grades of elementary school,there was no significant gender difference in the initial levels and developmental speed of fluency,flexibility,originality and total creativity.In junior high school,the initial level of girls'fluency was significantly higher than boys'.However,there was no significant gender difference in the developmental speed of fluency.And there was no significant gender difference in the initial levels and developmental speed of flexibility and originality.In the senior high school,there was no significant gender difference in the initial level of fluency,but in the developmental speed of fluency,girls showed an upward trend and boys showed a downward trend.The developmental speed of flexibility was significantly different,while the girls'developmental speed was higher than boys'.And there was no significant gender difference in the initial levels and developmental speed of originality and total creativity.2.The developmental trend of individual creative self-efficacy(1)The development of creative self-efficacy of students showed a wave downward trend.The creative self-efficacy of 4^th?6^thGrades in elementary school indicated an upward trend;the decline trend of the freshman to the junior in junior high school;and the upward trend was showed in the senior high school.(2)From elementary school to high school,the gender differences in the development trend of creative self-efficacy were differences.From 4^th?6^th Grades in elementary school,there was no significant gender difference in the initial levels,but significant gender difference in the developmental speed,boys'showed upward and girls'showed downward.The results of junior high school and senior high school were consistent,the initial level of boys were significantly higher than the girls,and the gender difference in development speed was not significant.3.The longitudinal reciprocal relations between creativity and creative self-efficacyFrom elementary school to high school,the longitudinal relations between creativity and creative self-efficacy show different performance.With the increase of age,the predictive effect of creative self-efficacy on creativity became stronger over time,the predictive effect of creativity on creative self-efficacy is gradually weakened.Specifically,in elementary school,creativity positively predicted creative self-efficacy(4^thGrade to 6^th Grade),and creative self-efficacy positively predicted creativity(4^thGrade to 6^th Grade);in junior high school,fluency positively predicted creative self-efficacy(7^thGrade to 9^thGrade),and creative self-efficacy positively predicted fluency(7^thGrade to 8^thGrade),flexibility(7^thGrade to 9^thGrade),originality(7^thGrade to 8^thGrade);in high school,creative self-efficacy positively predicted fluency(10^thGrade to 11^thGrade),flexibility(10^thGrade to 12^thGrade),originality(11^thGrade to 12^thGrade).4.The moderated effect of class atmosphere on the relationship of creativity and creative self-efficacyFrom elementary school to high school,the moderated effect of class atmosphere on the relation creativity and creative self-efficacy shows different performance.In elementary school,classmate support is stronger.When the lever of classmate support is high,the positive effect of creative self-efficacy on creativity is stronger.In junior high school,teacher support and class autonomy are more prominent.When the lever of teacher support and class autonomy are high,the positive effect of fluency on creative self-efficacy is stronger.Specifically,from 4^thGrade to 6^th Grade,regression analysis indicated that classmate support moderated the positive effect of creative self-efficacy on fluency,flexibility and originality;class autonomy moderated the negative effect of flexibility on creative self-efficacy.From 7^thGrade to 9^thGrade,regression analysis indicated that teacher support moderated the positive effect of creative self-efficacy on fluency(7^thGrade to 8^thGrade);class autonomy moderated the positive effect of creative self-efficacy on fluency(7^thGrade to 8^thGrade).From 10^th Grade to 12^thGrade,regression analysis indicated that there was no moderate relationship between class atmosphere(teacher support,class autonomy,and classmate support),creative self-efficacy and creativity(fluency,flexibility,and originality).To summarize,the current study explored the development of creativity and creative self-efficacy,the longitudinal reciprocal relations between creativity and creative self-efficacy and their potential moderating mechanisms.