Cultural Influence on Creativity:Exploring the Interactions between Asian culture (Confucianism)& Creativity

Kyung Hee Kim, Ph.D.

Eastern Michigan University

Confucianism

• Confucius (551-559 B.C.)

• Major cultural influence in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, & Taiwan

Education: Positive Elements of Confucian Education

Importance of Education

Funding for Schools

Family Support

Belief in Effort

Respecting Teachers

Teacher-Student Relationships

Centralized School Governance

But!Creativity in the Classrooms…

The Four Principle of Confucianismas they relate to Creativity

Importance of Education

Emphasis on EducationDevaluing Play Work-Play Dichotomy

Family System Filial Piety and HierarchyObedience and DependenceObedience and Hierarchy

Hierarchical Relationships

Gender Role InequalityGender Role Expectations

BenevolenceSuppression of ExpressionSelf-EffacementConformity

Findings

Negative relationship Older people tend to be more Confucian

But not for women

Findings

Confucianism that show the strongest negative relationship with creativity

Obedience and Hierarchy

Gender Inequality

Conformity

Suppression of Expression

Findings

Strongest negative relationships with the TTCT

ElaborationAbstractness of TitlesCreative Strengths

More negatively related to the Adaptive type

Figure 1. Best-fit Model in this Study

Implications

Advancing creative achievement requiresSelf-evaluate our environment

Remove environmental blocks to creativity Obedience and Hierarchy

Gender Inequality

Conformity

Suppression of Expression

kyunghee@uga.edu