Motivation and emotion/Book/2024/Intrinsic motivation and creativity
What is the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity?
Overview
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Imagine being an artist trying to create a painting (see Figure 1). Long hours of slaving away, intent on capturing an image that your mind has seen. Paint stains your clothes, your fingers and the ground beneath your feet. Where does the motivation to keep going on this painting come from? How do you stay motivated to keep painting in a creative endeavour? Alternatively, imagine you are a software developer tasked with coming up with a new aspect of an app you are working on. Long hours in front of a screen, trying to come up with a creative solution to an issue posed. How does motivation encourage creative solutions to problems?
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One of the main problems with intrinsic motivation and creativity is understanding the process behind it. How does it work and what can you do to increase both motivation and creative outcomes?
Creativity is a key component in so many aspects of our modern lives. Many professions and sectors all use creativity and creative processes, from artists creating pieces to innovating new products and services. So how does it work? And what are the mechanisms that can be used to model and understand this process?
The relationship between motivation and creativity is incredibly important to understand, as it will influence so many aspects of an individual’s life. It will affect work outcomes, where creativity is such an incredibly important part of navigating the modern workforce. Finding creative solutions to problems, managing and promoting creativity and inspiring creativity from employees are all aspects of modern work. Additionally, creativity is an important part of leisure and rest. Creative projects, using creativity in social relationships and at home are all fulfilling experiences. How then can this be encouraged and understood?
The relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity has been a focus of psychological study for many years, with the concept of creativity having changed over many years. Looking at the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity has led to an incredible amount of literature, branching out into many different areas of research. Understanding psychological literature can provide insight into processes that occur within oneself, such as how you can become motivated to create.
Additionally, how does intrinsic motivation compare to extrinsic motivation when it comes to creativity? How does each compare with regards to creative outcomes?
Finally, what are some of the factors affecting motivation and creativity? Looking at some of the other factors impacting the relationship between motivation and creativity will serve to enhance our understanding of the topic.
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Focus questions:
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Intrinsic Motivation and Creativity
[edit | edit source]- Creativity and intrinsic motivation have a complex relationship. As an indication, there are multiple dimensions linked to creativity and intrinsic motivation, one of which is action oriented.
- Creativity can be action oriented, towards the creative person or towards others. Their intrinsic motivation can be fuelled by a desire to create for the self or to create for others.
- As an example, an artist can be intrinsically motivated to create an art piece for self-fulfilment, expression and freedom. They can also be intrinsically motivated to create an art piece for someone else, providing a sense of usefulness and commitment (Auger & Woodman, 2016).
*suggested edit* it may be helpful here to talk about the "flow state" and how it contributes to the link between intrinsic motivation and creativity. If not here, you could also link to external information on it in your "see also" section.
Differences Between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Creativity
[edit | edit source]- Individuals may have certain traits that can be favourable for creativity, but the results depend on the individual’s intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Through their study, Prahbu and colleagues (2008) tested the mediating effects that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation had on creativity and different personality traits (openness to experience, self-efficacy and perseverance).
- Notably, intrinsic motivation was beneficial for creativity and that extrinsic motivation undermined creativity. High levels of extrinsic motivation and perseverance can be detrimental to creative efforts (Prabhu et al., 2008).
- Other research has found that intrinsic motivation facilitates creativity, whilst extrinsic motivation has not been found to have a clear link to creativity. Peng et al (2013) found that if extrinsic motivation is paired with high levels of self determination (autonomy), it can have positive effects on creativity. However, without these levels of self-determination present, extrinsic motivation had no effect on creativity (Peng et al., 2013).
- Whilst extrinsic motivation may not have a direct effect on creativity, perhaps it’s purpose is to enhance the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creative performance. If perceived external rewards and intrinsic motivation are both high, then creative performance and outcomes are positively affected (Fischer et al., 2019).
 Going back to the scenario of a painter, just as in Figure 2. How does his motivation change if what he is trying to create is for himself vs for others? Does painting this picture for himself mean he is more motivated to do it, versus painting it for others? How does motivation change if you are promised extrinsic rewards, such as money for your work? Will that motivate you more or make the creative process more difficult? |
Factors Affecting Intrinsic Motivation and Creativity
[edit | edit source]- One of the key factors is to identify what motivates individuals intrinsically and to ensure that creative activities take place around these motivators to increase creative performance (De Jesus et al., 2013).
- Having an environment that is conducive to creativity is incredibly important for creative output. Amongst employees, support from co-workers is incredibly important for improving creativity, whereas support from supervision and from family is less of a factor (Paramitha & Indarti, 2014).
- Other factors that can improve creativity through intrinsic motivation include workplace climate and empowering leadership. It is also worth noting that task and personal conflict, along with controlling managerial styles are negatively related to creativity (Hon, 2011).
Figures
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- Use figures to illustrate concepts, add interest, and to serve as examples
- Figures can show photos, diagrams, graphs, video, audio, etcetera
- Embed figures throughout the chapter, including the Overview section
- Figures should be captioned (using Figure #. and a caption). Use captions to explain the relevance of the image to the text/
- Wikimedia Commons provides a library of embeddable images
- Images can also be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons if they are openly licensed
- Refer to each figure at least once in the main text (e.g., see Figure 2)
Learning features
[edit | edit source]Interactive learning features help to bring online book chapters to life and can be embedded throughout the chapter.
- Scenarios
- Scenarios or case studies describe applied/real-world examples of concepts in action
- Case studies can be real or fictional
- A case study could be split into multiple boxes throughout a chapter (e.g., to illustrate different theories or stages)
- It is often helpful to present case studies using feature boxes.
- Feature boxes
- Important content can be highlighted in a feature box. But don't overuse feature boxes, otherwise they lose their effect.
- Consider using feature boxes for:
- Scenarios, case studies, or examples
- Focus questions
- Tips
- Quiz questions
- Take-home messages
- Links
- When key words are introduced, use interwiki links to:
- Wikipedia (e.g., Sigmund Freud wrote about (e.g., dreams) or
- Related book chapters (e.g., writer's block)
- Tables
- Use to organise and summarise information
- As with figures, tables should be captioned
- Refer to each table at least once in the main text (e.g., see Table 1)
- Example 3 x 3 tables which could be adapted
Table 1. Descriptive Caption Which Explains The Table and its Relevant to the Text - Johari Window Model
| Known to self | Not known to self | |
|---|---|---|
| Known to others | Open area | Blind spot |
| Not known to others | Hidden area | Unknown |
- Quizzes
- Using one or two review questions per major section is usually better than a long quiz at the end
- Quiz conceptual understanding, rather than trivia
- Don't make quizzes too hard
- Different types of quiz questions are possible; see Quiz
Example simple quiz questions. Choose your answers and click "Submit":
Conclusion
[edit | edit source]- The Conclusion is arguably the most important section
- Suggested word count: 150 to 330 words
- It should be possible for someone to only read the Overview and the Conclusion and still get a pretty good idea of the problem and what is known based on psychological science
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See also
[edit | edit source]Provide internal (wiki) links to the most relevant Wikiversity pages (esp. related motivation and emotion book chapters) and Wikipedia articles. Use these formats:
- Light triad (Book chapter, 2021)
- Collaborative authoring using wiki (Wikiversity)
- Self determination theory (Wikipedia)
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References
[edit | edit source]List cited references in APA style (7th ed.) or wiki style.
De Jesus, S. N., Rus, C. L., Lens, W., & Imaginário, S. (2013). Intrinsic Motivation and Creativity Related to Product: A Meta-analysis of the Studies Published Between 1990–2010. Creativity Research Journal, 25(1), 80–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2013.752235
Fischer, C., Malycha, C. P., & Schafmann, E. (2019). The Influence of Intrinsic Motivation and Synergistic Extrinsic Motivators on Creativity and Innovation. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 137. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00137
Hon, A. H. (2012). Shaping environments conductive to creativity: The role of intrinsic motivation. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 53(1), 53-64.
Peng, S.-L., Cherng, B.-L., Chen, H.-C., & Lin, Y.-Y. (2013). A model of contextual and personal motivations in creativity: How do the classroom goal structures influence creativity via self-determination motivations? Thinking Skills and Creativity, 10, 50–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2013.06.004
Paramitha, A., & Indarti, N. (2014). Impact of the environment support on creativity: Assessing the mediating role of intrinsic motivation. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 115, 102-114.
Prabhu, V., Sutton, C., & Sauser, W. (2008). Creativity and Certain Personality Traits: Understanding the Mediating Effect of Intrinsic Motivation. Creativity Research Journal, 20(1), 53–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400410701841955
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External links
[edit | edit source]Provide external links to highly relevant resources such as presentations, news articles, and professional sites. Use sentence casing. For example:
- Six top tips for writing a great essay (University of Melbourne)
- The importance of structure (skillsyouneed.com)
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