The Geography of the Creative Mind: A Cross-Cultural Study of Implicit Theories of Creativity Between the USA and Singapore

The “term” culture does not have a unilateral definition. Culture allows us to define who we are and what is meaningful, as well as to manage our physical and social milieu. As a result, our cultures have a tremendous influence on the way we think and feel, the way we view the world, the way we communicate, and the way we behave. Culture is not a static construct but created daily through contacts, exchanges, and communication between individuals and their social landscapes. The underlying assumption is that people’s thoughts and actions are guided by their own personal definitions of creativity, and they have their own beliefs about how to foster and judge creativity, which may be similar to the theories developed by experts in the field of creativity. This chapter explores the extent of influence of culture on implicit theories of creativity among laypeople from the USA, a predominantly Western culture, and Singapore, a predominantly Eastern culture, as well as the ethnic groups in Singapore, in regard to adaptive and innovative styles of creativity and their own conceptions of creativity.