The Style Troika Model: A Structural Model of the Thinking and Creating Styles Scale

Abstract

Individuals express their creativity through a variety of thinking and creating styles (Wechsler, 2006, 2007). These constructs underlie the Thinking and Creating Styles Scale (TCSS), which is used to identify individuals' creating styles. The aim of this research is to assess the factorial structure of the Portuguese version of the TCSS. Two studies were performed using 414 and 369 Portuguese participants with mean ages of 29.25 and 29.35 years, respectively. Study 1 consisted of an exploratory factor analysis that yielded a three‐factor solution. Study 2 consisted of a confirmatory factor analysis used to test the fit and compare the suitability of several factorial solutions. The three‐factor model (Non‐Conforming/Transformer, Cautious/Reflexive, and Logical/Objective) with the best statistical fit was called the Troika Model. In this model, each factor had five items and showed good and acceptable indices of fit. This new three‐factor structure results in a more efficient and attractive version of the TCSS: the Creating and Thinking Styles‐Troika Scale (CTS‐TS). Future studies should use the CTS‐TS and other creativity assessment instruments to explore the creativity level and style dichotomy.

Extended Validation Study of the Thinking and Creative Style Scale: Development of a Shorter Version

“…Turning first to the initial aim of the study, we noted that according to the original research, 5 styles could be obtained from STCS: Cautious-Reflexive, Non-Conforming-Innovative, Logical-Objective, Emotional-Intuitive and Relational-Divergent. Subsequently, however the number of styles derived from the STCS has been questioned in the country of Portugal, with two studies, one in Lisbon and the other in Island of Madeira, where only three to four styles were observed (Garces et al, 2014;Nogueira et al, 2015). These results demonstrated the need to reanalyze the original sample through more rigorous CFA procedures.…”

“…In conclusion, we believe that the reanalyses presented in this study reaffirmed that there are different ways of thinking and behaving creatively, as demonstrated by Wechsler's previous validity studies (Wechsler, 2006;Wechsler et al, 2012). As is evident from a review of the cross-cultural literature, values and ways of expressing creative styles can vary substantially across cultures, which can probably explain the differences determined from use of the STCS in Portugal and its Island of Madeira (see Garces et al, 2014;Nogueira et al, 2015). Further studies are needed in other cultural contexts, using the same statistical procedures, in order to conclude the extent to which the number and structure of creative and thinking styles replicate our findings.…”

“…In the Madeira Islands, although factor analytic results failed to identify the first style, the remaing four styles were identified (Garces, Pocinho, Wechsler, & Jesus, 2014). More recently, another study with samples from Lisbon (Nogueira, Almeida, Garces, Pocinho, & Wechsler, 2015), using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), indicated the existence only of the first three creative styles. Although these results suggest that particular creative styles may not be important in another culture, the question is raised as to the dimensions for which creative styles can be assessed and/or expressed.…”

Atas do X Simpósio Nacional de Investigação em Psicologia, Universidade da Madeira, 2019

“…In Portugal, creative personality assessment instruments are sparse. The Thinking and Creating Styles Scale (Wechsler, 2006) was adapted for a Portuguese sample (see Garcês, 2011;Garcês, Pocinho, Wechsler, & Jesus, 2014;Nogueira, Almeida, Pocinho, Garcês, & Wechsler, 2016), since then an effort to develop a Portuguese creative personality scale was made (Jesus et al, 2011;Garcês, 2013;. Identifying levels of creativity in individuals can have a major impact on the development of one's own skills and allow self-improvement.…”

Achieving structured knowledge management with a novel online group decision support system

“…The design of TeamSpirit is closely related to the design of other creativity problem-solving (CPS) processes or tools. The first CPS program was developed by Osborn (1963) and later modified by other researchers (Isaksen et al, 2016; Main et al, 2019; Ibérico Nogueira et al, 2016; Titus, 2000; Treffinger, 1995, 2007; Treffinger and Isaksen, 2005). The key concept behind CPS is to separate the idea-generation stage from the idea-evaluation stage, so that creative and uncommon ideas can be preserved in their original form before someone prunes them.…”