The Two Dimensions of Motivation and a Reciprocal Model of the Creative Process

Past research investigating the role of motivation in creativity has closely examined the role of intrinsic (i.e., process-focused) and extrinsic (i.e., outcome-focused) motivation. Results from this literature have shown that the effects of social factors on creativity (e.g., social inhibition or facilitation effects) are at least partially explained by their effect on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The present review seeks to broaden the scientific understanding of the role of motivation in creativity by proposing that a second dimension of motivation needs to be taken into account. In addition to creators’ locus of motivation (i.e., whether they focus on the intrinsic process and/or extrinsic outcomes), creative behavior also appears to be driven by its intended beneficiaries (i.e., the self and/or others). Supporting the importance of this second dimension, recent empirical research has begun to investigate the relationship between prosocial motivation (i.e., the desire to contribute to other people’s lives) and creativity. Thus, a combined look at research on these two dimensions of motivation highlights the bidirectional nature of the social processes at play in creativity: While studies investigating creators’ locus of motivation have examined the influence of others on creators, recent studies considering creators’ intended beneficiaries have stressed the importance of also understanding how creators wish to affect others in return. To integrate these two perspectives, we propose a reciprocal model of the creative process in which creators’ general motivational orientations (falling along the dimensions outlined above) are translated into specific motivational goals, and we review possible psychological mechanisms explaining how motivation may guide creative cognition.