The Effect Of External Motivation Internalization In Creative Problem Solving In The Operation And Management Scenarios

Previous studies based on Prototype Elicitation Theory showed that insight is a prototype elicitation process. In the creative problem solving process, people find prototypes and key information of the solution by searching existing knowledge and experience, and then produce insight to achieve the solution to the problem. Most of the previous studies focused on puzzle problem solving and inventional problem solving, however how to resolve the creative problem in the operation and management scenarios was largely unknown. When the operation and management is in trouble, conventional methods could not been enough to break the plight and win the competition in the market, which required people to abandon the stereotype and conventional means, and to resolve the problem creatively by a novel and unique way. Therefore, the innate character of creative problem solving in the operation and management scenarios was also the prototype elicitation. Yet, the creative problem solving in the operation and management scenarios was very different from those in the other areas, which had a very important practical significance.There were many factors influencing the creative problem solving, in which motivation played a very important role. The views of the relationship between internal motivation and creative were consistent that intrinsic motivation could facilitate the creativity. But external motivation whether promote creativity or inhibit creativity had been controversial. The difference of those studies of external motivation and creativity was that some studies ignored the synergy of the external motivation transforming to the internal motivation. Self-determination theory view extrinsic motivation as a continuum of different degree of internalization. There was the differentiation effect between external motivation and the creativity:Autonomy-oriented motivation within high degree internalization is conducive to creativity, and control-oriented motivation within the low degree internalization is not conducive to creative. Further studies began to focus on the relationship between external motivation and internal motivation. External motivation whether promoting or inhibiting the creativity depended on the external motivation was the "coordination" or the "non-coordination". The "coordination" external motivation was beneficial to the creative through promoting internal motivation, and the "non-cooperative" external motivation is adverse creative through inhibiting internal motivation.In summary, it has important practical significance to research the creativity in the operation and management scenarios based on the prototype inspired theory, and continuously to re-examine the role of motivation in the creativity activity.Preparatory studied on the excitation of the two external motivations (i.e. autonomy-oriented motivation within high degree internalization and control-oriented motivation within the low degree internalization).32participants from Southwest University are divided into autonomy-oriented group and control-oriented group randomly. Each group had16students. According to the three conditions, we wrote different instructions. Each participants was asked to fill in the "independent susceptibility questionnaire" after experimenter read the instructions to test the effect of accepted motivation induction. The results showed that the autonomy-oriented motivational participants’score of independent susceptibility was significantly higher than the control-oriented motivational participants’.Study one researched the effect of autonomy-oriented motivation and control-oriented motivation in creative problem solving in the operation and management scenarios.28participants from Southwest University were divided into autonomy-oriented group and control-oriented group randomly. Each group has14participants. Each group accepted only one type of motivation induction through the experimenter read the instructions. Then participants performed the creative problem solving in the operation and management scenarios. The results showed that the autonomy-oriented participants’ performance in creative problem solving were significantly better than the control-oriented participants’.Study two researched the effect of motivational type and the need for cognition level in creative problem solving. Recycled130valid questionnaires from132"need for cognition scale" questionnaires. Regard the top27%of the participants as the high level group, and the low27%of the participants as the low level group. Total69participants took part in the formal experiment:high level of need for cognition&autonomy-oriented group(n=17), high level of need for cognition&control-oriented group(n=17), low level of need for cognition&autonomy-oriented group (n=18), low levels of need for cognition&control-oriented group(n=17). Each group accepted only one types of motivation induction through the experimenter read the instructions. Then participants performed the creative problem solving in the operation and management scenarios. The results showed that the main effect of the motivational type was significant. The autonomy-oriented participants’ performance in creative problem solving were significantly better than the control-oriented participants’. The main effect of need for cognition level is not significant. There was a significant interaction between the type of motivational and need for cognition level. Post hoc analysis showed that the autonomy-oriented participants’ performance in creative problem solving were significantly better than control-oriented participants in the case of high level of need for cognition.The conclusion of the study are as follows:(1) Reasonable grounds, self-determination and admitted the feeling are indeed the three important factors to promote the external motivation internalization. The instructions of stimulating autonomy-oriented motivation and control-oriented motivation are valid.(2) The degree of internalization of the external motivation significantly affected the individual’s creative problem solving performance. With the degree of external motivation internalization increasing, the performance of creative problem solving was increased.(3) The level of need for cognition scores did not significantly affect the performance of creative problem solving.(4) The effect of external motivation internalization in creative problem solving based on the level of need for cognition. The increase of external motivation internalization degree could significantly facilitated the performance of creative problem solving for the people with high level of need for cognition, but not for the people with low level of need for cognition.