EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE COMPONENTIAL MODEL OF CREATIVITY - SECONDARY ANALYSES OF 3 STUDIES

Amabile's (1983a, 1983b, 1988) componential model of creativity predic ts that three major components contribute to creativity: skills specif ic to the task domain, general (cross-domain) creativity-relevant skil ls, and task motivation. If all three components actually do contribut e to creative performance, multiple measures of creativity taken from the same persons should show positive correlations. These correlations should be relatively low across different performance domains, higher within a performance domain, and even higher within a performance dom ain in situations where task motivation is likely to remain constant ( as when measures are taken within the same experimental session). Beca use three creativity studies with overlapping participant populations were carried out in our laboratory during the same semester, we had th e opportunity to test these hypotheses. Short stories were used as dep endent measures in two of these studies; a third study involved engagi ng in various art activities. Correlations among these measures of cre ativity follow the predicted pattern and thus provide support for Amab ile's model.