Abstract

Despite the emphasis on the need for, and the understanding of, creativity, creativity myths widely known but devoid of scientific evidence are still hindering the realization of creativity. This study examined the prevalence of creativity myths among South Korean participants(N = 668) via two online surveys measuring different variables and compared the results to those of previous study(Benedek et al., 2021) which revealed the pervasive unfounded assumptions and biases concerning creativity across 6 countries. In addition, this study examined whether individual differences(demographic characteristics, source of knowledge, authoritarianism, perception of self-creativity, openness to experience, and goal orientations) presumably relevant to creativity have significant relationships with belief in creativity myths to replicate (Survey 1) and expand (Survey 2) the findings of the previous study. Results showed that South Korean participants also had stronger beliefs in creativity myths in general (53%). While this confirms previous research suggesting that universal belief in creativity myths is a cross-national phenomenon, it also revealed clear cross-cultural differences between Western countries and South Korea. Furthermore, the belief in creativity myths was related to age, reliance on undependable sources, authoritarianism, and learning and performance avoidance goal orientations. These results of this study suggested that the investigation of implicit theories about individual creativity and the understanding of creativity based on scientific evidence need to be strengthened and shared among children and adults in our society for effective creativity education and releasing the creative potentials of our society.