Exploring the Effects of Creativity Training on Creative Performance and Creative Self‐Efficacy: Evidence from a Longitudinal Study

Abstract

In organizations and educational institutions, creativity trainings are the preferred approach to enhancing individual creative abilities. However, three issues regarding these trainings still remain largely unsolved. First, the question of how long‐lasting creativity training effects are has not been sufficiently answered so far. Second, the question arises whether all participants benefit from such trainings equally in terms of their creative performance (CP). Third, an increasing number of studies have shown that creativity trainings may also be able to increase participants' creative self‐efficacy (CSE), that is, the confidence in one's own creativity. Other studies, however, did not find evidence for this effect. Therefore, this article aims to address these issues by analyzing data from three measurement waves. Results reveal that participants' CP increased during the training and decreased only slightly 4 weeks after the training. Additionally, we found an effect of diminishing training returns in that the higher a participant's CP before the training the lower the training effect was. In contrast to most prior literature, we found no support for an effect of creativity training on participants' CSE. We discuss these findings and offer implications for both theory and practice. Finally, we state this study's limitations and derive avenues for further research.

Is overparenting harmful to creativity?

“…They promote employees' creative ideas and inspiration through exchange and learning from each other during daily life and work, thus improving creativity. This study also verified that creative self‐beliefs are influenced by training and the behaviour of parents and peers (Beghetto & Karwowski, ; Meinel, Wagner, Baccarella, & Voigt, ) and introduced the mechanism of these effects. Individuals' creative self‐beliefs and creative identities are formed in a creative environment constructed by parents and supervisors.…”

COVID-19: A Boon or a Bane for Creativity?

“…Professional (H1a) and everyday (H1b) creativity should be higher during lockdown than prior to it. Recent research has indicated that creativity training benefits less those individuals who have high baseline creativity ( Meinel et al, 2019 ). Thus, there seems to be a certain learning curve for creativity, and participants with lower creativity may benefit more from the lockdown conditions than those who have a high baseline level of creativity.…”

Impact of Divergent Thinking Training on Teenagers’ Emotion and Self-Efficacy During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Third, as part of creativity training, divergent thinking could enhance general self-efficacy, rather than merely promote creative self-efficacy in the field of creativity ( Mathisen and Bronnick, 2009 ; Byrge and Tang, 2015 ; Meinel et al, 2019 ). In our research, we chose divergent thinking training rather than creativity training as the manipulation; however, we believe creativity training could be effective in promoting self-efficacy and lowering anxiety.…”

“…Besides the confirmed effect of creative self-efficacy on divergent thinking, some studies examined how creativity training promoted creative self-efficacy ( Mathisen and Bronnick, 2009 ; Byrge and Tang, 2015 ). For instance, Meinel et al (2019) conducted creativity training lasting several months and found enhancement of creative self-efficacy. Similarly, Byrge and Tang (2015) implemented a complex creativity training program that consists of five sections, and the results showed increase in both creative self-efficacy and creativity ability.…”