Personal Growth Initiative and Curiosity as Predictors of Creativity in University Students

Abstract

In a fast-paced environment such as educational institutions where ideas are recycled and repurposed to suit the urgent requirements of society, creativity that is built on novelty and functionality needs to be promoted and nurtured. Personal Growth Initiative (PGI) is a positive engagement in one’s life for development and seeking greater possibilities. Curiosity is the desire to seek new and challenging information or experiences. The research aims to add to the body of scientific knowledge about creativity by investigating the relationship among creativity, personal growth initiative and curiosity in university students.  Among university students between the ages of 18 and 26, standardized scales were used to evaluate domain-specific creativity, personal growth initiative, and curiosity. The results indicated that personal growth initiative and curiosity significantly predicted some domains of creativity. The results also implied that personal growth initiative and curiosity are positively correlated to domain-specific creativity. A positive correlation between curiosity and personal growth initiative was also found. Understanding the value of creativity may benefit educational institutions by integrating into the curriculum activities or initiatives that stimulate and nurture curiosity and personal growth initiative, eventually raising the level of creativity in university students.