A paper authored by Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Senior Research Scientist, and Dr. Jessica Hoffmann, Assistant Professor at the Child Study Center, has been recognized as one of the top 10 most-cited articles in the Journal of Creative Behavior for 2022 and 2023.
The article, "The Creativity Dare: Attitudes Toward Creativity and Prediction of Creative Behavior in School," examines how high school students' attitudes toward creativity impact what students are able to do in their classrooms. Drs. Ivcevic and Hoffmann conducted two studies in which they measured thoughts and feelings students have as they decide whether to share their creative ideas and whether to pursue creative challenges. They identified three key attitudes: valuing creativity, anxious risk aversion, and anticipating negative social consequences. The research showed that students who valued creativity – considered it important to their identity – were more likely to view creative challenges as beneficial to their goals and more likely to be creative in their schoolwork. By contrast, those who were anxious about taking risks were less likely to share their creative ideas in class and those who anticipated negative social consequences ended up less interested in creative challenges and put less effort in working on these challenges.
This study is significant both practically and theoretically. Dr. Ivcevic states,
“The World Economic Forum lists several creativity-related skills in their top 10 list of skills for the changing economy. This research provides insight into concerns on students’ minds as they approach creative work. Will sharing ideas be met with disapproval? Could it be safer not to share ideas? How valuable and personally important is creativity for students? When educators acknowledge these concerns and take them into account in their classrooms, their students will be better able and more willing to engage creatively at school. We are deeply honored that this line of research has received so much recognition.”
Drs. Ivcevic and Hoffmann plan to extend this work to examine how a supportive school climate can help students develop positive attitudes toward creativity. They are also working to validate a way to measure these attitudes in Spanish-speaking students.