From Perceived School Climate to Creativity Performance: The Serial Multiple Mediation of Creative Self-Efficacy and Creativity Motivation

Building on social cognitive theory and the multimethod of assessing creativity, we examined the joint mediating effect of creative self-efficacy and creativity motivation on the association between perceived school climate and three dimensions of creativity performance (i.e., idea generation, combinatory ability, and restructuring ability). A total of 687 Chinese schoolchildren (51.2% girls; mean age = 14.8 years) attending secondary schools in Hong Kong completed the study. Perceived school climate, creative self-efficacy, and creativity motivation were assessed via the Perceived School Climate Scale, the Creative Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Creativity Motivation Scale, respectively. The three dimensions of creativity performance were assessed via their corresponding creativity tests (i.e., a divergent thinking test, a gestalt combinatory test, and a creative problem-solving test). Mediation analyses revealed that creative self-efficacy and creativity motivation partially and significantly mediated the link between perceived school climate and the three dimensions of creativity performance as single and serial mediators. The results further illustrated that, in general, the first mediator (creative self-efficacy) tends to have a slightly stronger effect than the second mediator (creativity motivation) in the mediation pathway across the three dimensions of creativity performance. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications.