Cross-cultural Research On Creative Idea Selection, Self-construction, Adjustment Focus, And Thinking Style

Creative ideas are highly valued,and various techniques have been designed to maximize the generation of creative ideas.However,for the actual implementation of creative ideas,the most creative ideas must be recognized and selected from a pool of ideas.Although idea generation,idea evaluation and idea selection are tightly linked in creativity theories,research on idea selection lags far behind research on idea generation and evaluation.Previous studies have found that culture can influence idea generation as well as decision making,however,its role in creative idea selection has never been explored directly.Moreover,people from different cultures differ in several factors,such as self-construal,regulatory focus,and processing styles,and these factors have also been shown to influence creativity and decision making,but it has never been explored whether they mediate the effect of culture on creative idea selection.In the current research,we want to investigate how culture may influence creative idea selection and examine the possible mediators of this effect.The study was conducted in China and in the Netherlands simultaneously,and 347 college students participated.The final effective sample is 329 participants.In the study,participants first completed the Self-construal Scale.Thereafter,they selected three creative ideas from a pool of 18 ideas that systematically vary on creativity and its sub-dimensions-originality,effectiveness and feasibility.Afterwards,they completed the Regulatory Focus Questionnaire and the Processing Styles Questionnaire.And then,they granted originality,effectiveness and feasibility a percentage of importance to construct creativity.Finally,they registered their personal information.Results:(1)the three selected ideas and the most creative idea in both idea pools selected by both Chinese and Dutch participants were more creative,more original,more effective,and more feasible than the idea set.(2)The three ideas selected by Chinese and Dutch participants were of same quality,but the best idea selected by Dutch participants was more creative,more original,and more effective than that selected by Chinese participants.(3)A significant effect of culture on creative idea selection was found,however,there was no significant mediation effect of self-construal,regulatory focus and processing styles.Conclusion:(1)Chinese and Dutch participants can effectively select high creative ideas.(2)Culture can influence creative idea selection,in specific,the most creative idea selected by Dutch participants was more creative,more original,and more effective than that selected by Chinese participants.(3)Culture can influence self-construal,regulatory focus,and processing styles,however,self-construal,regulatory focus,and processing style did not mediate the effect of culture on creative idea selection.