Parenting Behaviors and Creativity: The Roles of Autonomous and Controlled Motivation

Previous research has shown that parenting behaviors are strongly related to adolescents’ creativity development. Based on the ecological systems model of creativity development, the componential model of creativity, and the self-determination theory, our study investigated the indirect roles of autonomous and controlled motivations in the association between parenting behaviors and creativity in Chinese adolescents. Participants (N = 411) completed the Parenting Behaviors Scale, Learning Self-regulation Scale, Creativity Self-report Scale, and two tasks in the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Correlation analysis revealed that autonomy support is positively related to autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and creativity; psychological control is positively related to controlled motivation and creativity; and autonomous motivation and controlled motivation are both positively related to creativity. Structural equation modeling suggested that autonomy support was positively associated with creativity both directly (p = 0.009, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.029, 0.205]) and via autonomous motivation (p < 0.001, CI [0.045, 0.127]), whereas psychological control was negatively associated with creativity via controlled motivation (p = 0.032, CI [−0.074, −0.009]). Generally, autonomous motivation and controlled motivation play indirect roles in the association between parenting behaviors and creativity. The results provided insights into the relationship between parenting behaviors and creativity and its indirect mechanism, as well as suggested implications for the pathways of creativity improvement in parenting.