Runco, M. A., Abdulla Alabbasi, A. M., Acar, S., & Ayoub, A. (2022). Creative potential is differentially expressed in school, at home, and the natural environment. Creativity Research Journal, Online first, 1-8 . https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2022.2031437
Abstract
Creative potential is one of the most important topics for research. It is difficult to study because, unlike creative products, potential is by definition latent. There are several useful methods. One involves comparing creative activity expressed in various settings. Previous research has, for example, compared creativity expressed in school with that expressed by the same individuals when they are in the natural environment (i.e., outside of school). There tends to be more creative activity outside of school, suggesting that individuals have creative potential but it is only expressed in certain settings. The present investigation extended this line of research by comparing creative activity in school, at home, and that occurring outside of school and home. Results indicated that the creative activity scores from the three settings shared less than 52% of their variance. The measures were highly reliable, so the conclusion was that, as in previous research, various settings do indeed differentially allow the expression of creative potential. Comparisons of means also supported this finding. Interestingly, creative activity at home was significantly more common than creative activity at school and when outside of the home and school. A statistical test of method variance indicated that it was not a notable contribution nor confound. Limitations are discussed at the end of the article.