Creative mindsets are malleable: Effects of “born this way” messages and different definitions of creativity

Abstract

This experimental study examined the joint effects of different definitions (Big-C vs. little-c) and biological attributions of creativity (i.e., biological determinist attribution vs. interactive attribution) on creative mindsets. We randomly assigned 312 participants to one of the four experimental conditions: (a) Big-C, biological determinist attribution, (b) little-c, biological determinist attribution, (c) Big-C, interactive attribution, (d) little-c interactive attribution. Participants in each experimental group read a passage about creativity, which started with a brief definition of creativity (Big C versus little-c), followed by fictitious scientific findings about the causes of creativity. Participants who were led to think about the Big-C definition of creativity tended to endorse higher levels of fixed and lower levels of growth mindsets of creativity, compared with those who were led to think of creativity as everyday activities of ordinary people. Within the Big-C condition, the differences were significantly stronger when individuals read a passage that highlighted the deterministic role of biology in affecting creativity levels, compared with others who read a passage that emphasized the importance of both biological and environmental factors. The experimental manipulations affected creative mindsets only, but not the implicit theories of intelligence. By contrast, the differences between the biological determinist and interactive attribution conditions were not significant in the little-c condition. Our findings suggest that researchers and the media should avoid communicating biological knowledge associated with creativity in deterministic ways. Conceptualizing creativity as something that is achievable in everyday contexts may contribute to the development of a growth mindset of creativity.