I’m creative, but Am I Creative? Similarities and Differences between Self-evaluated Small and Big-C Creativity in Poland

I’m creative, but Am I Creative? Similarities and Differences between Self-evaluated Small and Big-C Creativity in Poland

A representative sample of Polish people (N=395) evaluated their self-perceived level of small (Polish kreatywno??) and Big-C creativity (Polish tworczo??) in a telephone interview. Overall self-esteem, measured by modified Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, as well as personality descriptions in areas connected with creativity (intellect & talent, openness to ideas, adaptativeness) were also studied. The results show that people in general describe themselves as both creative (little-c creativity, mini-c creativity) and Creative (Pro-cc creativity, Big-C creativity). At the same time, the number of people who perceive themselves as characterized by little-c creativity was significantly greater than of those characterized by Big-C creativity. This result shows that people are able to spontaneously distinguish between those two concepts. Analyses also show that self-perceived little-c creativity was significantly predicted by age (younger people described themselves as more creative), education level (higher level of education resulted in higher perceived creativity), and overall self-esteem. Big-C creativity was connected with perceived abilities rather than with demographic factors. At the same time, the number of people who describe themselves as creative (in terms of little-c creativity) and un-Creative (Big-C) simultaneously was four times greater than those who perceive themselves as Creative (Big-C) & un-creative (little-c).