Why are Asians LESS Creative than Westerners

Book Review by Joey Ng

Date of Review: 15th January 2009

“Asians are less creative than Westerners”, do you agree with this statement? If you do, you share the same opinion as author, Ng Aik Kwang, a Singaporean who wrote this book, as part of his PhD research on creativity in Australia.

What the author meant when he asserted that Asians are less creative than Westerners is that generally speaking, it is much harder for Asians to think, feel and act in a creative manner, compared to Westerners.

Society of the East and West

The author attributes the differences in thinking and behavior to the differences in society and cultural setting, examining how the social philosophy of Confucianism in the East and the liberal individualism in the West shapes the mind of its people. The East emphases on dependency and collectivism while the West stresses on independency and looking at oneself as a separate entity. The different views in way of life mold the way East and West approaches matters and life. For example, what the East sees as disrespectful, the West sees as ideology differences (arguing with seniors).

These differences also affect the manner in which an individual in these two societies look at themselves, in relation to those around them. Westerners see themselves as a unique individual who is separate and distinct from other people, thus, motivated to differentiate himself from others. As a result, he formulates his own goals and follows his own interest in life. On the other hand, Asian views themselves as a part of a larger web of social relations. He is motivated to fit in, thus, behaves in an inter-dependent and social manner, allowing the group to determine his goals and interests. The Westerners view success as having greater impact than failure, thus, are more likely to appraise themselves, a sentiment the Asians hold opposing views. They see failure as having more impact than success.

Development of a Child

The difference in the manner the two societies look at themselves can be traced back to how they are brought up. Caretakers in a Western society that encourages uniqueness will draw attention to a child positive feature, while in the East, focus in on the child's negative attributes that might prevent him from fitting into the group. As a result, self-esteem in the West is based on positive attributes present in a child while in the East, it is based on negative attributes absent from a child. Because of these, it leads to two significant personality traits: Open and Closed. Open personality is more likely to take root in loosely organized society, as it encourages a person to be original, innovate and explore. Closed personality is more likely to take place where rules and regulations must be followed, thus, a person might find it difficult to be open and innovate.

A passionate creator will attempt to shape the rest of the society to be in accord with his alternative view of life, even in face of opposition. Thus, if one were to live in a society where he is encouraged or molded to conform, it will undermine his capacity to be creative.

Creativity as a Form Motivated Behavior

Creativity is also a form of motivated behavior influenced by culture. A creative person has the tendency to be task involved, while an uncreative person, ego involved. The essential difference between them is the presence and absence of an inner sense of psychological freedom to create. A task involved person perceives himself as the cause of his action; as a result he experiences an inner sense of psychological freedom to create. When a person is doing an activity out of sheer pleasure, it allows the person to think in a more flexible and less rigid manner. An ego-involved person is controlled by extraneous forces, which suppress the more creative forms of problem solving.

Task-involved individuals are self-actualized and believe in their own ability or effort as oppose to luck. Ego-involved individuals are found to adapt an extrinsic, pressured and time-conscious approach when performing an activity.

Westerners are more likely to be task involved as the loosely organized society places a greater emphasis on realizing ones potential. In this society, they are imbued with a set of psychological attributes which increases his tendency to behave in a creative and task involved manner. 

Creativity requires a person to stand out, but in the face-conscious Asian society, his behavior is controlled by his desire to enhance his face in his community. Asians depend on the opinions and evaluations of others in order to feel good about them. They seek material goods, extrinsic motives, which enables them to feel, belonged and approved by social group. Asians has a strong inclination to identify with their in-groups. As a result of such psychological make-up, the typical Asian behaves in an uncreative and ego-involved manner.

Students in the East and West

The contrast in how Asian and Western students strive for success has a strong implication on their capacity to create. Students in the West are more concern with developing a deep understanding of a highly interested topic (mastery goal). Students in the East are more concern with getting good grades in examinations (performance goal). 
 
Asian educational system, which is highly competitive and performance-oriented, does not provide a conducive climate for creativity, which requires a lot of room for individual. Asian students’ desire to do well in examinations is mirrored by their lack of passion for what they study. They will pick a course with good market value (business, engineering), to assist him in finding a good job.

However, it makes sense for students in the East to work hard. They are living in a competitive society where a good education from a good university will get you a secure and stable job in a reputable organization. The reward is of course a higher pay, which will allow them to live better off, and acquire the material goods needed in a face-conscious society.

Conflicts

In the East where more emphasis is placed on relationship, conflicts are perceived with negativity because of its destructive properties. In contrast, the West sees conflicts positively as it shed lights on differences and allows better understanding in relationships.

When dealing with conflict, the West confrontational approaches open more room for creativity as creator should not succumb to the pressure of conforming. If one is not prepared to stand against oppositions of his ideas and beliefs, he will find it hard to be creative.

Psychological Freedom

In the West, an individual is left alone to his own thoughts and thinking, as they believe that these private realms normally do not affect others. However, Asians have the assumption that mental events such as knowing and feeling will usually lead to actions. As such actions might affect others, e.g. crime, a strong emphasis is placed on shaping the mind of the individual to protect the rest of the society.

This mindset has lead to many Asian governments, in their autocratic or dictatorial style, imposing regulations to control the thinking of their people, restricting the freedom to think and create.

Summary

Most of the reasons why Asians are less creative than Westerners have a lot to do with the culture and society which the individual has been exposed to since young. Culture shapes the psyche of the individual. Having lived in a society which emphasizes on conformity and collectivism, it is inevitable that Asian parents will create the same environment during their child’s upbringing. Till the time they are able to experience the other side of the coin, the cycle of these traditional values will be passed on from generation to generation.

However, the relationship between culture and psyche suggests than Asians are not less creative by default, but by being exposed to different environmental influences. This implies that in a suitable environment, Asians can be as creative as their Western counterparts.