Proceeding of 2025 8th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2025)

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The Impact of Playful Motivation on Creativity in Male and Female Chinese University Students

Authors
Zhiteng Zhao1, Yiming Cai2, *
1College of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, Shandong College of Electronic Technology, Jinan, China
2College of Politics and Public Administration, Shandong Youth University of Political Science, Jinan, China
*Corresponding author. Email: 810408900@qq.com
Corresponding Author
Yiming Cai
Available Online 26 March 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_140How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Playful Motivation; Creative Self-Efficacy; Creativity
Abstract

This study explores the differences between male and female Chinese university students in the relationships among playful motivation, creative self-efficacy, and creativity. By analyzing these relationships, this study explains how playful motivation, mediating factors, and gender differences affect creativity. A total of 827 Chinese university students were recruited from three universities in Jinan, Shandong, China. The students completed an online survey, which included a playful motivation scale, a creative self-efficacy scale, and a creativity scale. Structural equation modeling was used to test the validity of the measurement scales, mediating effects, and group differences. The results show that the relationships among playful motivation, creative self-efficacy, and creativity differ between male and female students. Creative self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between playful motivation and creativity in female students, while it does not mediate this relationship in male students. Recommendations are made for future teaching and psychological counseling in universities.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceeding of 2025 8th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2025)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
26 March 2026
ISBN
978-2-38476-551-5
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_140How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Zhiteng Zhao
AU  - Yiming Cai
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/26
TI  - The Impact of Playful Motivation on Creativity in Male and Female Chinese University Students
BT  - Proceeding of 2025 8th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1289
EP  - 1297
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_140
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_140
ID  - Zhao2026
ER  -