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Culture and the Assessment of Creativity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Paul S. Hempel  and
Christina Sue-Chan
Paul S. Hempel
Affiliation:
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Christina Sue-Chan
Affiliation:
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Abstract

Laboratory studies of culture and creativity typically rely upon measures of divergent thinking while studies of creativity in organizational settings explicitly define creativity and use subject matter experts as assessors to account for the influence of culture on the assessment of creativity. Yet, little is known about what specific characteristics of a creative idea are considered when creativity is assessed by communities of experts (the field) in different spheres of creative activities (domain). In this article, we review, conceptually analyse, and illustrate using original interview data the influence of culture on the assessment of two commonly examined dimensions of overall creativity, novelty, and usefulness. Using the context of expatriates, we propose a framework, along with propositions, that integrates cultural experience, creativity criteria, and assessor perspectives on creativity assessment. Finally, we discuss ways in which a focus upon the processes underlying creativity assessments could help advance research on culture and creativity.

Keywords

assessment of creativityChinacreativity创造力评估中国创造力
Type
Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , November 2010 , pp. 415 - 435
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2010

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