Creative thinking and academic performance across cultures: Multilevel analyses based on PISA 2022

BACKGROUND: Creative thinking has been widely recognized as a potential contributor to improved academic performance. However, this association has not been systematically confirmed across culturally diverse societies. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between creative thinking and adolescents' academic performance, and to examine the moderating role of two cultural dimensions from the Minkov-Hofstede model: individualism-collectivism and flexibility-monumentalism. METHODS: Using data from the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2022), multilevel analyses were conducted based on responses from 376,130 adolescents across 48 countries/regions. RESULTS: The analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between creative thinking and academic performance on a global scale. Furthermore, this relationship was moderated by cultural values: in more individualistic societies, the academic benefits of creative thinking were stronger in reading, math and science; in more flexible societies, creative thinking was more strongly associated with math performance only. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of considering both individual factors and broader sociocultural contexts when examining adolescents' academic performance.