Development of Chinese Junior High School Students’ Creative Potential: Within-Person and Between-Person Effects of Student–Student Support and Need for Cognition

A longitudinal study was conducted to examine the developmental trend of creative potential in Chinese junior high school students and the within-person and between-person effects of student–student support and need for cognition. Two hundred and fourteen Chinese junior high school students participated in the present study (mean age = 13.29 years, SD = 0.49 years, 116 boys). Student–student support, need for cognition, and creative potential were measured once per year for 3 years. Longitudinal multilevel models indicated that (1) Chinese junior high school students’ creative potential showed a downward trend from grades 7 to 9; (2) at the within-person level, time-varying student–student support positively predicted time-varying creative potential; (3) at the within-person level, time-varying need for cognition moderated the positive link between time-varying student–student support and time-varying creative potential; and (4) at the between-person level, no support was found for the links between student–student support, need for cognition, and creative potential. Specifically, average levels of student–student support neither significantly predicted initial levels and developmental rates of creative potential nor moderated the links between average levels of student–student and initial levels and developmental rates of creative potential. The findings highlight that at the within-person and between-person levels, student–student support and need for cognition have differential influences on Chinese junior school students’ creative potential.