The Effect Of Cultural Mixing On Individual Creativity:A Moderated Mediation Model

Creativity,as one of the most important cognitive activities of individuals,profoundly affects the development of productivity and social progress.With the advent of the innovation era,academics have paid more and more attention to the study of creativity,from the initial focus on the influence of individual trait factors such as cognitive flexibility and Big Five personality on creativity to the current stage of focusing on the influence of socio-cultural factors on creativity.The theory of intelligence of creativity argues that the socio-cultural environment can transmit and modify creative ideas and is crucial to the stimulation of individual creativity.Currently,due to globalization,cultural mixing has become a common socio-cultural phenomenon,and it has the potential to influence individual creativity.Therefore,this study aims to investigate the relationship between cultural mixing and creativity.The exploration was carried out through 2 pre-experiments and 2 formal studies.Pre-experiment 1: A questionnaire was used to screen 90 pictures of Chinese and foreign cultures for the purpose of screening valid cultural initiation picture materials.The results showed that a total of 74 pictures reached the symbolic level.Pre-experiment 2: With the purpose of examining the relationship between cultural mixing and creativity,a questionnaire method was used to survey 72 college students in school.The results showed that cultural mixing were significantly and positively related to creativity and positively predicted creativity.Study 1,to examine the mechanism of the role of positive emotions in the effect of cultural mixing on creativity.A one-factor（culture initiation: Chinese and foreign bicultural vs.control group）between-subjects design was adopted,and the subjects were 80 full-time college students from a university in Sichuan Province.The results showed that cultural mixing have both direct effects on creativity and indirect effects on creativity through positive emotions,i.e.,positive emotions play a mediating role in the effects of cultural mixing on creativity,with a mediating effect of 10%.Study 2 consisted of two parts,Study 2a and Study 2b.Study 2a: To explore the moderating role of trait need for cognitive closure（NFCC）in the mediated model,a 2（culture initiation: Chinese and foreign bicultural vs control group）× 2（need for cognitive closure:high vs low）between-subjects design was used,and the subjects were 60 full-time college students from a university.Results showed that the mediated model with moderation held,and the inclusion of trait need for cognitive closure weakened the positive effect of positive emotions on creativity.Study 2b: To examine whether the moderating role of state need for cognitive closure in the mediated model was consistent with the role of trait need for cognitive closure,a 2（cultural initiation: Chinese and foreign bicultural vs control group）× 2（need for cognitive closure: high vs low）between-subjects design was used,with 80 full-time college students at a university.The results showed that the mediated model with moderation held,and the inclusion of state need for cognitive closure weakened the positive effect of cultural mixing on positive emotions and the positive effect of positive emotions on creativity.Conclusions: Cultural mixing positively affect creativity,positive emotions mediate between cultural mixing and creativity,and cognitive closure is required to mediate between the first half of the pathway and the second half of the pathway in the mediation model.