The value of creativity: A scoping review
Open accessAbstract
Growing rhetoric from industry-based white papers and global reports states that creativity is a vital skill for the future of work. However, despite centuries of study and debate, there remains a lack of consensus on the exact nature of the value of creativity. This scoping review followed the PRISMA-ScR guidelines with the objective of reviewing and describing the literature since 1980 to find a consensus description of the value of creativity. This review identifies a three-factor typology comprising extrinsic, instrumental, and intrinsic-inherent value as value construct propositions. The synthesis of the reviewed literature (N = 86), including a high Cohen's Kappa for interrater agreement on the articles (κ = 0.993), found that the value of creativity is predominantly instrumental and functions as a tool for achieving both extrinsic and intrinsic-inherent outcomes. This review sharpens the understanding of creativity, primarily in the subject matter area of business and workforce, by creating a value-informed basis that may be valuable for practitioners, scholars, and policymakers responsible for bolstering the rationale for a renewed focus on creativity as a vital 21st Century skill. Future research and limitations are discussed.
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Creativity holds intrinsic value, allowing people to express unique human perspectives, emotions, and experiences.
“Creativity holds intrinsic value, allowing people to express unique human perspectives, emotions, and experiences [71].”
From Decoupling of Usefulness and Novelty: Evaluating the Impact of Generative AI on Design Outputs and Novice Designers' Creative Thinking (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
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- Authors
- Oppert, M. L., O'Keeffe, V., Bensnes, M. S., Grecu, A. L., & Cropley, D. H.
- Affiliations
- University of South Australia (AU)
- American University of Paris (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Oppert, Michelle Leanne
- Venue
- Journal of Creativity
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-08
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 100059
- ISSN
- 2713-3745 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4379259024
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 79
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 4.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Creativity (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- UniSA Research Outputs Repository (University of South Australia) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Australian Government Department of Education and Training
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Cultural Industries and Urban Development
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Organizational Management and Innovation
- Keywords
- value of creativity, creativity, instrumental values, extrinsic value, intrinsic value, future of work, 21st century skills, labor force
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