Concepts of creativity: Similarities and differences among mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwanese Chinese

Aspects of creativity concepts across different Chinese populations were examined. A Likert style questionnaire consisting of 60 adjectives was administered to 451 undergraduates from Beijing, Guangzhou, Taipei and Hong Kong. The results show that: (a) the core characteristics of creativity identical in all the samples are: "originality", "innovativeness", "thinking" and "observational skills", "flexibility", "willingness to try", "self confidence", and "imagination"; (b) the Taipei sample, unlike the other three samples, does not associate "wisdom", "assertiveness", and "individualism" with creativity; (c) in all Chinese populations the three factors labeled innovative, dynamic, and intellectual were distinguishable in the concept of creativity; (d) "artistic" and "humorous" were missing in the Chinese perception of creativity; (e) creativity characteristics received relatively low ratings on the desirability scale.