Honors Theses and Capstones

Date of Award

Summer 2012

Project Type

Senior Honors Thesis

College or School

CHHS

Department

Psychology

Program or Major

Psychology/EcoGastronomy

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

First Advisor

Rebecca Warner

Second Advisor

Ad Dudink

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to address differences in self-actualization, satisfaction with life, and motivation that exist between individuals in careers of varying levels of creativity. Roughly 330 participants mainly from the United States and India took part in the study. Participants completed a survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk in which they rated their career as not at all creative, somewhat creative, or highly creative. The survey included questions from the Brief Index of Self-Actualization by Sumerlin and Budrick and the Satisfaction with Life scale by Emmons et al. The findings showed that individuals who rated their careers as highly creative were more likely to have higher satisfaction with life. In addition, they were also more likely to be motivated by recognition, personal satisfaction, and the greater good. This study expanded upon a pilot study completed in Holland of a similar nature but with a larger population size.

Comments

Thank you to the Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research, the Knowles Family, and Mr. Dana Hamel for providing funding for this research, and also a huge thank you to Rebecca Warner and Ad Dudink for all their time and effort on this research.

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