Abstract
<p>Research on creativity and motivation has tended to focus on the core split between intrinsic motivation (e.g., passion and personal growth) and extrinsic motivation (e.g., duty and extrinsic rewards). Building on recent efforts to examine the nuances and boundaries of this dichotomy, we asked university students to answer open-ended questions about their motives for engaging in general creative activities and creative writing. They also completed a set of measures assessing creative agency, creativity motivation, creative activities and achievements, and literary abilities. The qualitative analysis of responses revealed a set of 12 motives for engaging in creative activities that was consistent across general and writing domains (analytical sample: N = 510): Requirement, Fun, Happiness &amp; Passion, Coping with Stress, Challenge &amp; Growth, Expression, Connection with Others, External Self, Boredom, Thinking &amp; Problem Solving, Inspiration, and Prosocial. We also examined the prevalence of creativity motives, their co-occurrences, and motivation profiles across general and writing domains. Three distinct motivation profiles were identified for general creative activities (“Affective–Social,” “Pragmatic Problem Solving,” and “Achievement–Growth”), whereas the two profiles identified for creative writing closely mirrored the intrinsic–extrinsic dichotomy. In addition, we found several creativity-related attributes and sociodemographic factors that predicted the reporting of different creative motives. Overall, our results emphasize the multiplicity of motives for engaging in creative activities and point to the need for future research examining their roles in creative behavior and the dynamic processes underlying creativity.</p>