Creativity is one of the essential skills for the 21st century. Although current advancement in the research converges on its dual features (i.e., originality and appropriateness) and the effect of instructional focus, little is known about how culture and work modality (i.e., individual or collaborative) play a role in the effect. This study examined the moderating role of culture on the impact of instructional focus on creative performance at both individual and team levels. We recruited 144 participants (72 from the United States and 72 from China) to form 48 working teams of trios, half of which were instructed to focus on originality while the other half to focus on appropriateness. Our results revealed a main effect of instructional focus on creativity only at the team level but not at the individual level. More importantly, we found that the individualistic culture yielded the best creative performance with individual work modality when instructed to focus on originality, whereas the collectivistic culture yielded the best creative performance with team work modality when instructed to focus on appropriateness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Enhancing creativity and critical thinking have garnered the attention of educators and researchers for decades. They have been highlighted as essential skills for the 21st century. A total of 103 United States students (53 female, 24 male, two non-binary, and 24 non-reporting) and 166 Chinese students (128 female, 30 male, one non-binary, and seven non-reporting) completed an online survey. The survey includes the STEAM-related creative problem solving, Sternberg scientific reasoning tasks, psychological critical thinking (PCT) exam, California critical thinking (CCT) skills test, and college experience survey, as well as a demographic questionnaire. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) yields a two-factor model for all creativity and critical thinking measurements. Yet, the two latent factors are strongly associated with each other (r=0.84). Moreover, Chinese students outperform American students in measures of critical thinking, whereas Americans outperform Chinese students in measures of creativity. Lastly, the results also demonstrate that having some college research experience (such as taking research method courses) could positively influence both United States and Chinese students’ creativity and critical thinking skills. Implications are discussed.

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