Exploring Creative Spaces Predict Domain‐Specific Creative Achievements

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the factors predicting creative activities and creative achievements among university students. Based on a recently proposed framework of 10 creative spaces, we hypothesized that exploring those creative spaces, alongside the personality trait openness to experience and divergent thinking abilities would predict creative activities and achievements in specific domains. Using the Inventory of Creative Activities and Achievements (ICAA) to evaluate eight domains of creativity, two divergent thinking tasks, and one associative task, we analyzed a sample of n = 300 university students. The results of Structural Equation Models revealed that the creative spaces significantly predicted creative activities and creative achievements in the eight domains assessed. The model explained in average 27% of the variance in creative activities and 17% in creative achievements. Openness significantly predicted creative activities in music, literature, and arts and crafts. Intellect did not significantly predict any domain. Lastly, fluency in divergent thinking was positively associated with all domains (average coefficient of β = .15), despite not always reaching significance. We discuss the roles of the recently proposed creative spaces, as well as openness to experience, and fluency in predicting creativity across various domains.