Preschool teachers’ perceptions of creative personality important for fostering creativity: Hong Kong perspective

Given the growing awareness of the importance of cultural-specific studies in creativity, the purpose of this study was to develop a rating scale (Creative personality Questionnaire, CPQ) to elicit Hong Kong Chinese preschool teachers’ perceptions of creative personality and to determine the factor structure of the CPQ. Items for the CPQ were generated using literature search and interviews. Participants comprised of 564 Chinese preschool teachers. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a 20 items, five-factor model (cognitive abilities, discipline, motivation, inventiveness, personal properties) for the CPQ. While most of the personality characteristics in the CPQ were congruent with those suggested in the literature, characteristics relating to well mannered, honest, cautious, and need for recognition in the discipline domain reflects the influence of Chinese culture. The core creative personalities perceived by the Hong Kong Chinese preschool teachers were found to be similar and these characteristics generally aligned with the western views. This study expands the availability of reliable tools for assessing preschool teachers’ perception of creative personality and leads to further studies on examining how the teachers’ personality affects classroom practices and children's creative learning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.