A COMPARISON OF NON-VERBAL CREATIVITY BETWEEN LITHUANIAN AND MEXICAN ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

Background . The purpose of this work was to explore non-verbal creativity (free from language influences) between Mexican and Lithuanian adolescents. Methods . This is a cross comparative study of 354 high school students (average age 17.2 years) from Lithuania and Mexico who were asked to complete four tasks from the 2 non-verbal sections of the Multifactorial assessment of creativity test, EMUC ( Evaluacion Multifactorial de la Creatividad , Sanchez, Garcia, Valdes, 2009). The first section explored visual-spatial creativity associated with vocational choices such as architecture and graphic design. The second explored inventive associated with realistic vocational choices such as engineering and practical handcraft. Results . No significant differences were noticed in the procedures of administering, interpreting and using test results in these two countries. In general, Lithuanians show more fluidity and flexibility, whereas Mexicans show more originality. Results indicated a poor relationship between high creative potential and vocational choices that demand creativity (i.e. design, music, etc.). Consistent gender differences were observed depending upon the type of creativity assessed. Women showed higher creativity on visual-spatial tasks, while men in originality for inventive tasks. Conclusions. Results underline the difficulties in assessing and comparing creative products from different cultures. They underline the importance of context specific criteria to judge creativity in an ipsative fashion. Furthermore, overall results suggest that visual-spatial tasks in this age range should focus on originality and elaboration, whereas the ingenuity task should focus on flexibility and fluidity.