Construction and Validation of the Postgraduate Research Innovation Ability Scale (PRIAS): A Three-Dimensional Structural Model Based on Componential Theory of Creativity

Figures & data

Figure 1 Componential Model of Creativity.

Table 1 Rotated Component Matrix of Pre-PRIAS

Item	Creativity-Relevant Processes	Domain-Relevant Skills	Intrinsic Motivation
1. I am a creative person	0.882
2. I can solve all kinds of problems creatively	0.835
3. I can synthesize and flexibly use all kinds of innovative thinking (including association thinking, flexible thinking, image thinking, logical thinking), and put forward original ideas for things	0.777
4. I can solve a research problem through rigorous logical reasoning and experimental verification	0.548
5. I can skillfully use the research methods and practical skills required by this major		0.727
6. I am familiar with the latest frontier trends and research hotspots in my scientific research field		0.726
7. In addition to learning professional knowledge, I often pay attention to other related disciplines or cutting-edge academic issues		0.721
8. I can present clear research questions or testable hypotheses		0.695
9. I hope to acquire more knowledge and skills through participating in scientific research and innovative projects			0.857
10. I want to try something that no one else has done			0.721
11. I have a curiosity for exploring things			0.630
Eigenvalues	4.10	1.56	1.30
% of variance	24.34	22.06	16.78
Cronbach’s α	0.84	0.72	0.67

Note: Factor loadings less than 0.40 are hidden.

Table 2 Item Analysis

Item	CITC	Low-Score Group (N=89) M±SD	High-Score Group (N=89) M±SD	t
1	0.68	32.46±5.70	47.55±3.80	−20.80**
2	0.70	32.62±5.74	47.44±4.37	−19.39**
3	0.72	32.49±5.56	47.71±3.85	−21.21**
4	0.65	32.29±5.43	47.44±4.00	−21.19**
5	0.59	33.63±6.38	46.17±5.05	−14.54**
6	0.57	34.10±6.99	44.90±5.19	−11.70**
7	0.56	33.69±6.69	47.17±4.36	−15.92**
8	0.63	33.07±6.14	47.51±3.98	−18.62**
9	0.49	34.09±6.79	45.51±6.39	−11.56**
10	0.47	34.00±6.21	45.96±6.25	−12.80**
11	0.57	33.40±6.62	47.21±5.20	−15.48**

Note: **p < 0.01.

Abbreviation: CITC, corrected item-total correlation.

Table 3 Rotated Component Matrix of PRIAS

Item	Creativity-Relevant Process	Domain-Relevant Skills	Intrinsic Motivation
1. I am a creative person	0.831
2. I can solve all kinds of problems creatively	0.849
3. I can synthesize and flexibly use all kinds of innovative thinking (including association thinking, flexible thinking, image thinking, logical thinking), and put forward original new ideas for things	0.704
4. I can solve a research problem through rigorous logical reasoning and experimental verification	0.670
5. I can skillfully use the research methods and practical skills required by this major		0.798
6. I am familiar with the latest frontier trends and research hotspots in my scientific research field		0.843
7. In addition to learning the professional knowledge, I often pay attention to other related disciplines or cutting-edge academic issues		0.511
8. I can present clear research questions or testable hypotheses		0.728
9. I hope to learn more knowledge and skills through participating in scientific research and innovation projects			0.818
10. I want to try something that no one else has done			0.818
11. I have a curiosity to explore things			0.807
1. I am a creative person	5.26	1.50	1.01
% of variance	27.30	22.35	21.12
Cronbach’s α	0.87	0.80	0.78

Note: Factor loadings less than 0.40 are hidden.

Figure 2 Scree plot of exploratory factor analysis.

Figure 3 Measurement model fit of Postgraduate Research Innovation Ability Scale.

Notes: Factor 1 = creativity-relevant process; Factor 2 = domain-relevant skills; Factor 3 = intrinsic motivation.

Table 4 Pearson Correlations Among the Variables (N = 164)

Variables	M±SD	1	2	3	4	5
PRIAS	44.09±8.11	—	0.53***	0.87***	0.87***	0.69***
RIBS	72.10±11.44		—	0.36***	0.54***	0.47***
Domain-relevant skills	13.07±3.06			—	0.65***	0.38***
Creativity-relevant processes	12.62±3.13				—	0.50***
Intrinsic motivation	11.34±2.21					—

Note: ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: PRIAS, Postgraduate Research Innovation Ability Scale; RIBS, Runco Ideational Behavior Scale.

Box 1 Items of the Scale

Sr. No.	Item
1	I am a creative person
2	I can solve all kinds of problems creatively
3	I can synthesize and flexibly use all kinds of innovative thinking (including association thinking, flexible thinking, image thinking, logical thinking), and put forward original ideas for things
4	I can solve a research problem through rigorous logical reasoning and experimental verification
5	I can skillfully use the research methods and practical skills required by this major
6	I am familiar with the latest frontier trends and research hotspots in my scientific research field
7	In addition to learning the professional knowledge, I often pay attention to other related disciplines or cutting-edge academic issues
8	I can present clear research questions or testable hypotheses
9	I hope to acquire more knowledge and skills through participating in scientific research and innovation projects
10	I want to try something that no one else has done
11	I have a curiosity for exploring things