Creative Expression and Its Evaluation on Work‐Related Verbal Tasks: A Comparison of Chinese and German Samples

Abstract

Two studies comparing Chinese and German samples by using work-related verbal creativity tasks examined the role of culture in creative expression thereby also exploring culture's potential influence on creativity judgements. In Study 1, German participants (N = 60) scored higher than Chinese respondents (N = 60) in a work-related unusual uses test on all objective creativity measures. Study 2 (Chinese: N = 59, German: N = 52) replicated these findings by applying an occupational creative problem-solving task evaluated by using the Consensual Assessment Technique with judges from China as well as Germany. We observed high consensus among judges of each country as well as between the two cultures. Both German and Chinese judges rated the German respondents' outcomes higher on most creativity dimensions (e.g., originality). Overall, German judges provided lower ratings. Our research extends previous intercultural findings solely based on art-based creative performance to the occupational domain and indicates that higher creativity ascriptions toward the performance of Western people cannot be explained by assessments from Western raters.

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