An investigation into the relationships between creativity, problem solving and life stress: a focus on Malaysian university students
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Date
2009
Authors
Tan, Chee Seng
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Abstract
Even though creativity, problem solving and life stress have been studied widely
as separate entities, there have been a limited number of studies that focus on the
influence of creativity on problem solving and life stress. To fill up this gap, two
studies were conducted to investigate the relationships between creativity,
problem-solving ability and life stress. In Study 1, 246 students from Universiti Sains
Malaysia answered a set of questionnaire which comprised of sections on
background information; self-assessment of creativity and problem-solving ability
and perceptions of life stress. The results show that creativity had a significant
positive relationship with problem-solving ability (r = .409, p < .01) while
problem-solving ability had a significant negative relationship with life stress
(r = -.266, p < .01). Moreover, there was a significant relationship between creativity
and frequency of stress (r = .142, p < .05). In addition, significant relationships also
emerged between life stress and background variables such as age, ethnicity and
religion. Students who were younger in age and Malays were more likely to report a
higher level of stress. In Study 2, 30 students from the same university answered
several open-ended questions to test their level of creativity and problem-solving
ability. They also completed a set of questionnaire on perception of life stress.
Consistent with findings from Study 1, creativity had a significant positive
relationship with problem-solving ability (r = .638, p < .01) while level of stress had
a significant positive relationship with frequency of stress (r = .627, p < .01).
However, significant relationships between the core variables (creativity,
problem-solving ability and life stress) and background variables were not consistent
with the relationships in Study 1. Nevertheless, findings from both studies suggest
the importance of creativity skills and problem-solving ability as preventions against
life stress, particularly for university students.
Description
Master
Keywords
Social science , Life stress , Creativity , Problem solving , University students