Τhe Sustainability of Creativity

On the Micro-Foundations of Creative Economy: Life Satisfaction and Social Identity

Incorporating the unavoidable changes manifesting in the behavior of individuals as an outcome of evolution at the level of development of the economy and society, we pinpoint a new theoretical background requiring the reconfiguring of the micro-foundations of economic theory regarding the creative economy. We thus set the theoretical micro-foundations of the creative economy where the main microeconomic incentive lies in life satisfaction attainment rather than utility maximization. At the macroeconomic level, we propose the pairing of sustainability with the creative economy. The objective is met through the vehicle of social identity derived from the responses to a questionnaire distributed in Greek society. Through principal components analysis, we locate two sets of variables shaping life satisfaction: the exogenous influences within social identity (state of health, age, and level of education) and the endogenous primary influences within social identity (lending, cultural change, and happiness). Each one of these variables is determined by other interpretative variables. Furthermore, we observe a weakness of economic policy to influence life satisfaction in advanced Western societies, resulting in a paradox of the economic toolkit. Our findings are relevant for policymaking to promote life satisfaction, especially within the creative economy context.

Creativity: The Effectiveness of Teacher-Student Conflict

This study examines the effectiveness of different types of teacher–student conflict in promoting students’ creativity in universities. Previous studies mainly focused on the negative effects of conflict; few examined its positive effects. Teacher–student conflict in university classes can take many forms; however, there are no clear definitions of the various types of such conflict. This study classified teacher–student conflict as understanding conflict, process conflict, and relationship conflict, and we used this classification to extend prior research by revealing the beneficial impacts of teacher–student conflict on students’ creativity. We empirically examined the relationship between teacher–student conflict and students’ creativity. The hypotheses were supported by using data from questionnaires completed by 2009 students at 17 American universities. We then conducted a hierarchical regression analysis of the data using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that understanding conflict and process conflict had significant positive effects on students’ creativity, whereas relationship conflict had a significant negative effect on students’ creativity. This study thus revealed the positive effect of teacher–student conflict in university classes and suggests encouraging conflict (understanding conflict and process conflict) as a unique teaching method to stimulate students’ creativity.