How creative potential is related to metacognition

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the possible links between metacognition and narrative (or verbal) and graphic creative potential as well as the contribution of the former variable to creativity. The second objective was to study the effect of gender on these variables. This study was conducted with 360 men and women students from the Public University of Navarra enrolled in applied sociology, social work, and specialising in infant and primary education. Participants were given the Adult Creative Imagination Test and the Creative Metacognition Scale during their regular school schedule and during a single session. The results showed that the relationships between the assessed variables were significant and positive. Furthermore, metacognition moderately predicted narrative creativity; thus, cognitive processes do not operate in isolation because they affect and are affected by other factors. The findings also revealed that students obtained different results with regard to verbal and graphic creativity, and men and women differed only in narrative creative potential. The most important conclusion to be drawn from this research is that creative and metacognitive skills should be explicitly involved in higher education to stimulate the creative potential of future professionals.