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Abstract
As an important component of creativity, evaluative skill refers to the ability to accurately judge ideas on creativity or originality. Although the importance of the evaluative component is recognized in most creativity models, studies on this construct are lacking compared to those on divergent thinking (DT). Creativity research in the cross-cultural context is an emerging field. In light of the differences in the creativity conception that compared to Westerners (Americans and Europeans), Easterners (Asians) put more emphasis on following traditions and norms, this evaluative component should be important in Asians’ creativity. Therefore, the present study investigated the differences in evaluative skill as well as DT between American (n = 341) and Chinese (n= 345) colleges students with four types of DT tests and corresponding evaluation tasks (Line Meanings, Uses, Instances, and Consequences) via latent mean comparisons, which were conducted after the measurement invariance (MI) of the measures was established. Results supported the multidimensionality of both constructs of DT and evaluative skill based on the different tasks used. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses supported configural, weak and strong MI for the revised multidimensional model for both DT and evaluative skill. In addition, latent mean comparisons demonstrated higher performance of American individuals on DT fluency (on Line Meanings, Uses and Consequences) and DT originality (on Line Meanings and Consequences) compared to their Chinese counterparts. It also showed higher performance of American respondents on evaluative skill based on the Uses evaluation task compared to Chinese peers, whereas no difference emerged on that based on the Line Meanings evaluation task. Last, in terms of the cultural orientation used to interpret the differences, structural equation modelling results showed that the dimension of vertical collectivism consistently negatively predicted both DT and evaluative skill across different tasks. Overall, the findings suggested that there are cross-cultural differences in people’s evaluative skill, and this pattern is different from that in divergent thinking. This study also demonstrates the importance of testing MI of the measures before comparing creativity differences cross-culturally.