Martin Storme

Creativity as action: findings from five creative domains

The present paper outlines an action theory of creativity and substantiates this approach by investigating creative expression in five different domains. We propose an action framework for the analysis of creative acts built on the assumption that creativity is a relational, inter-subjective phenomenon. This framework, drawing extensively from the work of Dewey (1934) on art as experience, is used to derive a coding frame for the analysis of interview material. The article reports findings from the analysis of 60 interviews with recognized French creators in five creative domains: art, design, science, scriptwriting, and music. Results point to complex models of action and inter-action specific for each domain and also to interesting patterns of similarity and differences between domains. These findings highlight the fact that creative action takes place not “inside” individual creators but “in between” actors and their environment. Implications for the field of educational psychology are discussed.

Typing Speed as a Confounding Variable and the Measurement of Quality in Divergent Thinking

The need to control for writing or typing speed when assessing divergent-thinking performance has been recognized since the early ‘90s. An even longer tradition in divergent-thinking research has the issue of scoring the responses for quality. This research addressed both issues within structural equation modeling. Three dimensions of originality—uncommonness, remoteness, and cleverness—were used to derive an overall quality score. Mixed evidence was found in Study 1 for the direct effect of typing speed on fluency. In addition, indirect effects of typing speed via cognitive complexity on overall quality of ideas were uncovered but marginal in both Study 1 and Study 2. This indirect effect was also found for cleverness in Study 2. Another indirect effects of typing speed via fluency was found for cleverness and uncommonness. These findings indicate that controlling for typing speed is important in online divergent-thinking assessment. The inter-relations of various quality scores pertaining to the dimensions of uncommonness, remoteness, and cleverness were promising in terms of convergent validity. Important problems with respect to these scores were identified and discussed to guide future attempts to measure quality in DT.

French Validation of the Overexcitability Questionnaire 2: Psychometric Properties and Factorial Structure

Overexcitability corresponds to an overall response to stimulations in 5 domains: psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational, and emotional. The aim of this study was to develop a French version of the Overexcitability Questionnaire 2 (OEQ2) and to expand its psychometric properties. Two studies were conducted: one with a sample of 474 adolescents and another with a sample of 436 adults. Internal consistency, factorial structure, and validity (correlations with intelligence, personality, and alexithymia) were examined. The French OEQ2 showed satisfactory psychometric properties, thus advocating for its use in further research on overexcitability and in clinical practice.

Managerial creative problem solving and the Big Five personality traits

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide new elements to understand, measure and predict managerial creativity. More specifically, based on new approaches to creative potential (Lubart et al., 2011), this study proposes to distinguish two aspects of managerial creative problem solving: divergent-exploratory thinking, in which managers try to generate several new solutions to a problem; and convergent-integrative thinking, in which managers select and elaborate one creative solution. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, personality is examined as a predictor of managerial creative problem solving: On one hand, based on previous research on general divergent thinking (e.g. Ma, 2009), it is hypothesized that managerial divergent thinking is predicted by high openness to experience and low agreeableness. On the other hand, because efficient people management involves generating satisfying and trustful social interactions, it is hypothesized that convergent-integrative thinking ability is pred...

How subjective processing fluency predicts attitudes toward visual advertisements and purchase intention

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the role of attention, processing motivation and processing depth in the relationship between self-reported subjective processing fluency and relevant advertisement variables such as ad attitude, brand attitude and purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach – Two empirical studies were conducted using self-report questionnaires. Findings – In Study 1 (N = 176), the measure of self-reported subjective processing fluency was pretested. As expected, it was found to be sensitive to visual and semantic features of advertisements and to predict attitudes toward an advertisement. In Study 2 (N = 204), mediation analyses showed that self-reported subjective processing fluency was a predictor of attitude toward the advertisement (through attention and processing depth), attitude toward the brand (through processing depth) and purchase intentions (through processing depth). Research limitations/implications – The results emphasize the role of cognitive processing in ex...

Work-related curiosity positively predicts worker innovation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual work-related curiosity and worker innovation and to test the mediating role of worker divergent thinking. Design/methodology/approach In all, 480 participants, holding 188 different jobs, filled in a validated work-related curiosity scale and indicated their job title. Job requirements in terms of divergent thinking and innovation − derived from the Online Information Network (O*NET) database − were used as proxies for divergent thinking and innovation skills. Findings Results indicated that individual work-related curiosity was a positive predictor of worker innovation and that worker divergent thinking mediated this relationship. Research limitations/implications Individual work-related curiosity supports exploratory skills which support in turn innovation skills. Practical implications Managers could use individual work-related curiosity as a predictor of innovation skills when recruiting, training and guiding employees. Originality/value This study is the first to show an association between individual work-related curiosity and innovation skills across more than 150 different jobs.

Are reflective models appropriate for very short scales? Proofs of concept of formative models using the Ten-Item Personality Inventory

OBJECTIVE Because of their length and objective of broad content coverage, very short scales can show limited internal consistency and structural validity. We argue that it is because their objectives may be better aligned with formative investigations than with reflective measurement methods that capitalize on content overlap. As proofs of concept of formative investigations of short scales, we investigate the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI). METHOD In Study 1, we administered the TIPI and the Big Five Inventory (BFI) to 938 adults and fitted a formative Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes model, which consisted of the TIPI items forming five latent variables, which in turn predicted the five BFI scores. These results were replicated in Study 2 on a sample of 759 adults, but this time with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) as the external criterion. RESULTS The models fit the data adequately, and moderate to strong significant effects (.37 < |β| < .69, all ps < .001) of all five latent formative variables on their corresponding BFI and NEO-PI-R scores were observed. CONCLUSIONS This study presents a formative approach that we propose to be more consistent with the aims of scales with broad content and short length like the TIPI.

Career Exploration and Career Decision-Making Difficulties

This article investigated the moderating role of creative self-efficacy (CSE) on the relationship between career exploration and career decision-making difficulties among French undergraduate students (N = 415). Drawing a parallel between the career decision-making process and the notion of creative problem-solving, we reasoned that career exploration without CSE—that is, the confidence in one’s own ability to solve original and complex problems—can be associated with career decision-making difficulties. Our study shows that among students who have low levels of CSE, environmental exploration, and self-exploration regarding career options are respectively associated with dysfunctional beliefs regarding one’s career path and general indecisiveness. We discuss the implications of the results.

Trait Emotional Intelligence Predicts Academic Satisfaction Through Career Adaptability

In the current work we investigated whether trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) contributes to academic satisfaction and explored a potential mechanism to explain this effect. Building on career construction theory (CCT), we hypothesized that trait EI is positively associated with academic satisfaction through enhancing career-specific coping resources—the so-called career adapt-abilities. Using structural equation modeling, we tested the relationship between trait EI and academic satisfaction and the mediating role of career adaptability among undergraduate students (N = 410). Results showed that trait EI is a positive predictor of academic satisfaction and that career adaptability mediates this relationship. These results suggest that the contribution of trait EI to academic satisfaction is partly due to increased perceptions of career adaptability. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Career Decision Ambiguity Tolerance and Career Decision-Making Difficulties in a French Sample: The Mediating Role of Career Decision Self-Efficacy

In the current work, we investigated the relationship between career decision ambiguity tolerance (CDAT) and career decision-making difficulties among French-speaking university students. In a preliminary validation study (N = 246), we examined the psychometric properties of the CDAT Scale. Our results showed that the French CDAT Scale had satisfactory levels of scale score reliability, that its factor structure was consistent with the original three-factor structure, and that it had incremental predictive power over general ambiguity tolerance when predicting career decision self-efficacy and career adaptability. In a second study (N = 412), building on social cognitive career theory, we hypothesized that career decision self-efficacy mediates the relationship between CDAT and career decision-making difficulties. Results were consistent with our hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.