Creative Self-Efficacy: The Influence of Affective States and Social Persuasion as Antecedents and Imagination and Divergent Thinking as Consequences

Abstract

Two studies examined the influence of encouragement for creativity, curiosity, harmonious passion, and autonomy support as antecedents of creative self-efficacy and imagination and divergent thinking as consequences. College students completed a battery of questionnaires. Structural equation modeling treating the variables as latent and not normally distributed was used to test our hypotheses. Results from study 1 showed a positive influence of encouragement for creativity and curiosity on creative self-efficacy. Similarly, creative self-efficacy was a positive predictor of reproductive and creative imagination. Results from study 2 showed a positive effect of harmonious passion on creative self-efficacy. Creative self-efficacy was a positive predictor of fluency and originality scores from a divergent thinking task. The theoretical and applied implications of the results were discussed.