Creative Motivation and Self-Efficacy Moderate the Differences in Individual Creativity Performance in Interactive Situations

The present study examined how creative intrinsic motivation (CIM), creative extrinsic motivation (CEM), and creative self-efficacy (CSE) moderate differences in individual creativity in one-on-one interactive situations. A total of 262 adults completed the Alternative Uses Task and Chinese Radical Remote Associates Test in single- and paired-player modes on an online interactive creativity task platform, followed by measures of CIM, CEM, and CSE. Participants were classified as relatively higher- versus lower-performing members within each dyad on the basis of their single-player performance. The results showed that CIM and CSE significantly moderated the fluency and originality advantages of higher divergent-thinking performers in the paired-player mode, whereas CEM did not significantly moderate performance. No significant moderating effects were found for CRRAT performance. These findings suggest that individual differences in creative motivation and creative self-efficacy are especially relevant when open-ended creative performance unfolds in interactive settings. They also imply that educators and facilitators seeking to improve collaborative creativity should attend to baseline creative ability, as well as learners’ intrinsic motivation and confidence in their creative capabilities.