Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 1984
  • Article
  • Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Children's Artistic Creativity: Effects of Choice in Task Materials

By: T. M. Amabile and J. Gitomer
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:7
ShareBar

Abstract

Preschool boys and girls made collages using a subset of a large array of materials. Half of the children were allowed to choose those materials they would use. For the rest of the children, the choice was made by the experimenter. Children in the no-choice condition were yoked to those in the choice condition by the specific materials they were given. The collages made by children given a choice of materials were judged by a group of artists as significantly higher in creativity than those made by children given no choice. These results support the hypothesis that unconstrained choice in task approach can be conducive to creativity, whereas constrained choice can be detrimental.

Keywords

Creativity; Early Childhood Education; Social Psychology; Decision Choices and Conditions

Citation

Amabile, T. M., and J. Gitomer. "Children's Artistic Creativity: Effects of Choice in Task Materials." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 10 (1984): 209–215.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Purchase

About The Author

Teresa M. Amabile

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2022
    • Academy of Management Collections

    The Turn Toward Creative Work

    By: Spencer Harrison, Elizabeth D. Rouse, Colin M. Fisher and Teresa M. Amabile
    • July 2022
    • Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

    What Do I Make of the Rest of My Life? Global and Quotidian Life Construal across the Retirement Transition

    By: Jeff Steiner and Teresa M. Amabile
    • August 2021
    • Academy of Management Perspectives

    The Undervalued Power of Self-relevant Research: The Case of Researching Retirement While Retiring

    By: Teresa M. Amabile and Douglas T. (Tim) Hall
More from the Authors
  • The Turn Toward Creative Work By: Spencer Harrison, Elizabeth D. Rouse, Colin M. Fisher and Teresa M. Amabile
  • What Do I Make of the Rest of My Life? Global and Quotidian Life Construal across the Retirement Transition By: Jeff Steiner and Teresa M. Amabile
  • The Undervalued Power of Self-relevant Research: The Case of Researching Retirement While Retiring By: Teresa M. Amabile and Douglas T. (Tim) Hall
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College