Cultural Differences and Conceptualizing Creativity

Author

Rima Musa AshourFollow

Abstract

Culture has been shown to impact the way people understand and evaluate creativity. Every day people encounter products, services, and processes; some are considered creative, and others are not. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between culture and implicit theories of creativity of products and processes. The study was conducted on UAE professional citizens who have at least three years of work experience and live in UAE. Surveys were used as the data collection method, and were applied on a final sample of 98 Emiratis. The study surveyed 26 creativity cues as the dependent variables. Results demonstrated a significant difference between how Emiratis and Croatians conceptualize creativity (p≤ 0.05 for all cues). It more specifically illustrated that Emirati people have a broader view of creativity than Croatians. The results indicated no effect of education level and a very limited effect of age or gender on the different implicit theories of creativity. The study highlighted that learning and understanding how people from different cultures conceptualize creativity differently is essential for organizations that desire to design a creative product, process, or service more efficiently. Finally, the study contributes to the future of creativity in multiple aspects and suggests areas for further research in this field, especially for quantitative studies in the Gulf and the Middle East cluster.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Creative ability in business--United Arab Emirates--Public opinion; Creative ability--United Arab Emirates--Public opinion

Publication Date

6-30-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Service Leadership and Innovation (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

Hospitality and Tourism Management (SCB)

Advisor

Jennifer Matic

Recommended Citation

Ashour, Rima Musa, "Cultural Differences and Conceptualizing Creativity" (2020). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from
https://repository.rit.edu/theses/10527

Campus

RIT Dubai

Plan Codes

SVCLED-MS