Influences of Social and Educational Environments on Creativity During Adolescence: Does SES Matter?

Abstract

It is well established that there is an academic achievement gap between students from high and low socioeconomic family backgrounds. However, how being brought up and living in different socioeconomic backgrounds impacts adolescent development, particularly their creative capabilities and creativity-related personality traits, is not well understood. This study compared creative capabilities and traits of 8th grade students of 2 school districts: a suburban, upper-middle class community and an urban community with a large proportion of families under poverty, located in a northeastern state. The results provide compelling evidence for a creativity gap. The study also found a possible mediating role of academic achievement and intrinsic cognitive motivation, suggesting that the psychosocial processes and mechanisms leading to the creativity gap are tractable. Implications of the findings for optimal adolescent development and social interventions are discussed.

“Peaks, Slumps, and Bumps”: Individual Differences in the Development of Creativity in Children and Adolescents

“…For example, Fearon, Copeland, and Saxon () noted the negative impact of authoritarian parenting, a common parenting style in Jamaican culture, on the development of creativity in Jamaican youth. Consistent with prior research on parenting and creativity, this result is in line with the idea that creativity flourishes when developmental experiences and conditions are optimal (Dai et al., ; Runco & Cayirdag, ).…”

Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles: Diversity of life experience mediates the relationship between family SES and creativity

“…For instance, Dai et al . () explored the intricate interplay of school SES, academic achievement, intrinsic cognitive motivation, and student’s creativity performance. The results showed that students from high SES schools performed better on measures of creativity performance as well as academic achievement.…”

“…The influences of family background on the life-long development of creative talent have received much theoretical and empirical attention (Dai, Tan, Marathe, Valtcheva, Pruzek & Shen, 2012;Hennessey & Amabile, 2010;Kohanyi, 2011;Runco & Albert, 2005;Sen & Sharma, 2013). Family socioeconomic status (SES), usually considered as the sum scores awarded for education, occupation, and average monthly income of the parents, is one of the most remarkable features of family background (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002).…”

Creative Cognitive Processes in Higher Education

“…There is also evidence that SES can play a role in creative performance, as Dai et al. () found evidence for a “creativity gap” between upper middle class students and those in impoverished school districts, even when matched on other important characteristics like school size, student‐teacher ratio, English proficiency, and ethnic composition. The effects of environment on creativity therefore extend past the individual level, cumulating in creative assets or deficits for the overall population, so it is of utmost importance to understand the nuanced role of the environment in creativity.…”

“…Broad environmental effects can also have an negative influence on creativity, as Kim and Hull (2012) found trends using a national database to suggest that anti-creative school environments are negatively correlated with creativity scores, which also affect the likelihood that these creative students will drop out of high school. There is also evidence that SES can play a role in creative performance, as Dai et al (2012) found evidence for a "creativity gap" between upper middle class students and those in impoverished school districts, even when matched on other important characteristics like school size, student-teacher ratio, English proficiency, and ethnic composition. The effects of environment on creativity therefore extend past the individual level, cumulating in creative assets or deficits for the overall population, so it is of utmost importance to understand the nuanced role of the environment in creativity.…”