Do authentic people generate more creative solutions to help others? The mediating role of dispositional and situational perspective-taking

Abstract

As an extension of the existing literature on the association between authenticity and general and malevolent creativity, this study examines the link between authenticity and the prosocial facet of creativity, namely benevolent creativity (BC), and whether dispositional and situational perspective-taking functions as a mediator in this association. In Study 1, 284 participants (241 females; mean age = 20.43 years) were recruited to complete measures of authenticity, dispositional perspective-taking, and BC performance. The results revealed that although authenticity was not significantly correlated with BC fluency, flexibility, unusualness, and originality, the former can indirectly influence BC fluency through the mediating path of dispositional perspective-taking. In Study 2, 265 participants (203 females; mean age = 20.11 years) were recruited to complete measures of authenticity, situational perspective-taking, and BC performance. The results identified the mediating role of situational perspective-taking in the association between authenticity and BC fluency and flexibility. However, the aforementioned mediating effect was not observed in the link between authenticity and BC unusualness and originality. Taken together, our results indicate that both situational and dispositional perspective-taking can mediate the link between authenticity and the quantitative (rather than qualitative) facet of BC performance. The study's limitations and future research directions are discussed in detail.