Intrinsic motivation is seen as the principal source of vitality in educational settings. This study examined whether intrinsic motivation promoted online group creativity and tested a cognitive mechanism that might explain this effect. University students (N = 72; 61 women) who volunteered to participate were asked to fulfill a creative task with a peer using online software. The peer was actually a fake participant who was programed to send prepared answers in sequence. Ratings of creativity (fluency, flexibility and originality) and eye movement data (focus on own vs. peer’s ideas on the screen) were used to compare students who were induced to have high intrinsic motivation and those induced to have low intrinsic motivation. Results showed that compared to participants with low intrinsic motivation, those with high intrinsic motivation showed higher fluency and flexibility on the creative task and spent a larger percentage of time looking at their own ideas on the screen. The two groups did not differ in how much they looked at the peer’s ideas. In addition, students’ percentage dwell time on their own ideas mediated the beneficial effect of intrinsic motivation on idea fluency. These results suggest that although intrinsic motivation could enhance the fluency of creative ideas in an online group, it does not necessarily promote interaction among group members. Given the importance of interaction in online group setting, findings of this study suggest that in addition to enhancing intrinsic motivation, other measures should be taken to promote the interaction behavior in online groups.

中文翻译：

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内在动机通过促进成员的努力而不是互动来增强在线团体的创造力

内在动机被视为教育环境中活力的主要来源。这项研究检查了内在动机是否促进了网上群体的创造力，并测试了可以解释这种影响的认知机制。大学生（N = 72; 自愿参加的61名女性）被要求使用在线软件与同伴一起完成创造性的任务。对方实际上是伪造的参与者，被编程为按顺序发送准备好的答案。创造力（流利度，灵活性和独创性）和眼动数据（侧重于屏幕上自己与同伴的想法）的等级用于比较被诱导具有较高内在动机的学生和被诱导具有较低内在动机的学生。结果表明，与内在动机低的参与者相比，内在动机高的参与者在创意任务上表现出更高的流利性和灵活性，并花费更多时间在屏幕上查看自己的想法。两组在看待同伴的想法上没有多大差异。此外，学生对自己的想法的停留时间百分比介导了内在动机对想法流畅性的有益影响。这些结果表明，尽管内在动机可以提高在线小组中创意的流畅性，但不一定能促进小组成员之间的互动。考虑到互动在网上小组环境中的重要性，这项研究的结果表明，除了增强内在动机外，还应采取其他措施来促进网上小组中的互动行为。