Self-esteem and psychological capital: Their mediation of the relationship between Big Five personality traits and creativity in college students

Abstract

This study examined self-esteem and psychological capital as a mediator of the relationship between Big Five personality traits and creativity. A convenience sample of 732 college students from Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi provinces participated (females = 71.7%; mean age = 20.86, SD = 4.26 years). The participants completed measures of self-esteem, psychological capital, Big Five personality, and creativity. We utilised Structural Equation Modelling to determine the direct and indirect effects of self-esteem and psychological capital on Big Five personality traits and creativity. The results show that self-esteem and psychological capital directly mediated the relationship between the Big Five personality traits of neuroticism, openness, extroversion, and conscientiousness and the creativity of college students. When neuroticism is low and openness to experience scores are high, high scores on self-esteem and psychological capital predict high creativity. Self-esteem and psychological capital also mediated the relationship between extroversion and conscientiousness. Specifically, the higher the scores of extroversion and conscientiousness, the higher the level of self-esteem, psychological capital, and creativity.