Feeling of Competence Affects Children’s Curiosity and Creativity
- Rongzhi Liu, Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
- Fei Xu, Psychology, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
AbstractCreative potential in childhood predicts creative achievements later in life. But relatively little is known about the factors and processes that promote creativity in children. A theoretical framework by Carr, Kendal, and Flynn (2016) identified several factors, including curiosity and exploration, that might facilitate creativity and innovation. Building on this framework, we propose another factor – children’s feeling of competence – that might affect both curiosity and creativity. In the present study, 5- to 7-year-olds were induced feelings of high or low competence by solving math problems. Next, they completed three tasks that measured their curiosity and creativity. The findings showed that children who felt more competent explored more on a novel toy and showed better creative problem-solving abilities.