Difference between motivational goal framing effects on creative and perceptual task performance

This study examined the effects of motivational goal framing on creative and perceptual performance. Goal orientation was manipulated via task instructions. In order to examine whether goal framing (learning or performance) are influential only in creative performance, two experiments were conducted, one with creative task, the other with perceptual task. In the first experiment, 162 students engaged in full-time employment completed a creative task. In the second experiment, 268 students engaged in full-time employment completed a perceptual task. The first experiment showed that individuals instructed to be learning oriented were more creative relative to those instructed to be performance oriented. This occurred only in the creative task, as performance did not differ according to goal orientation framing in the second experiment. The results are discussed in terms of anxiety and cognitive performance theory and the stage model of creativity.