The Relationship Between Locus Of Control And Creativity

Creativity is the unique psychological quality of human beings,which makes them manufacture novel,unique and feasible products under certain conditions.Cultivating creativity in school cannot be neglected,furthermore,the influence of locus of control on middle school students has always been in the spotlight.In previous studies,there are few studies on the effect mechanism of locus of control on creativity.Only a brief description of the relationship between the two variables has been made,with no further discussion.Therefore,this study based on Rotter’s social learning theory and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory,focuses on the effect of locus of control for middle school students’ creativity,as well as investigates the role of general self-efficacy between locus of control and creativity.The intervention of Research 2 is based on the results of Research 1.This study puts forward some valuable suggestions on cultivating creative talents from the perspective of theory and practice.Williams Creativity Scale,AUT test,General Self-efficacy Scale,Internality,Powerful Others,and Chance Scale are used in this study.A questionnaire survey conducts among grade 2 students of a middle school in Chongqing to explore the status quo,differences and possible relationships among creativity,general self-efficacy and locus of control.Based on the results of Study 1,Study 2 selects two classes as homogenous subjects,and divides them into experimental class and control class to explore the effectiveness of an intervention of locus of control.The conclusions of this study are as follows:(1)There was a significant correlation between locus of control,general self-efficacy and creativity.Internality was positively correlated with creativity tendency,risk-taking,curiosity and challenge.Powerful others and chance are significantly positively correlated with imagination,and significantly negatively correlated with challenge.General self-efficacy is positively correlated with internality,negatively correlated with powerful others and chance,and positively correlated with all dimensions of creativity tendency.Creative tendency and its dimensions are significantly positively correlated with creative thinking and its dimensions.(2)Locus of control has a predictive effect on creativity.Internality positively predicted creativity tendency,risk-taking,curiosity and challenge.Powerful others and chance positively predict imagination and negatively predict challenge.(3)Locus of control affects creativity through simple and multiple mediating effect.General self-efficacy has a mediating effect among internality,creative tendency,risk-taking,curiosity and challenge.There is a masking effect between powerful others,chance,and creative tendency.General self-efficacy and creative tendency plays a chain mediating role between locus of control and creative thinking,and the direct effect from locus of control to creative thinking was not significant.(4)The intervention designed in this study can significantly affect the locus of control of middle school students,and indirectly affect their creativity level.Specifically,the level of being influenced by powerful others is significantly reduced,creative tendency and its challenging dimension,creative thinking and its fluency,flexibility dimension are significantly improved.To sum up,at theoretical level,this study enriches previous researches,provides reference for the study of locus of control and creativity,and provides a new path for the cultivation of creative talents.At practical level,it helps parents,schools and society to pay attention to the locus of control and creativity level of middle school students,make educational improvements,and formulate reasonable and feasible practical programs to promote the development of middle school students’ mental health education.