Tan, Nuoya;
(2022)
Theoretical Development of Creative Thinking: The Role of Integrative Thinking and Social Cognition.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
Preview |
Text
Nuoya_Tan_PhD_Thesis_16094599.pdf - Accepted Version Download (3MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Creative thinking is the psychological mechanism underlying the descriptive process that produces real-life creative outcomes. However, the connection between individual creative thinking and real-life creativity remains unclear. For example, the widely employed psychometric tools for creative thinking showed limited predictive power towards real-life creativity. In addition, empirical evidence for the social psychology of creativity is inconsistent. Also, the links between creative thinking and social cognitive process are rarely validated in the field. Besides, some domains that require creativity lack guiding theories and empirical evidence. Therefore, this research project aimed to advance the understanding of creative thinking and its role in real-life situations. To address the knowledge gap and fulfil the central purpose, we conducted four pilot and seven main studies using quantitative research methods. Accordingly, we created an integrative-thinking-based psychometric tool - Function Synthesis Task and validated its discriminate validity and predictive ability towards engineering students' creative product design. To understand the link between social comparison and creativity, we produced a new experimental paradigm that addressed existing methodological issues. We employed the paradigm and found that competition and star rating feedback altered speed or performance in creative thinking tasks. Besides, we produced a new product design task based on a hot topic at the time and found that ranking feedback benefited engineering students' creative performance in the task. Moreover, we designed a new un-stereotype intervention and found its effectiveness in improving marketers' divergent thinking. We also found that advertising stereotypes increased audiences' perceived creativity. Our research shows that integrative thinking and social cognition might play essential roles in developing the theory of creative thinking and offers novel research tools for future studies. We also form practical advice to guide educators, organisational leaders, and policymakers to promote creativity, diversity, and inclusion in real-life situations.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Theoretical Development of Creative Thinking: The Role of Integrative Thinking and Social Cognition |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2022. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10155364 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
