Beyond Collaboration: Embracing the Positive Side of Competitive Academic Atmosphere for Scientific Creativity of Doctoral Students in Collectivism Cultural Context

ABSTRACT Given that the relationship between academic atmosphere and doctoral students creativity has not yet fully reached consensus in diverse cultural contexts, this study seeks to unpack how collaborative and competitive academic atmospheres matter for the scientific creativity of doctoral students, as well as their influencing mechanisms and heterogeneity. Collecting 464 questionnaires from the Chinese mainland, the study adopted structural equation modelling and quantile regression methods. The results indicated that not only the collaborative academic atmosphere, but also the competitive atmosphere were positively associated with scientific creativity in a collectivist cultural context. Nevertheless, the academic atmosphere only exerted an indirect effect on creativity through the single mediation and sequence mediation of achievement motivation and academic engagement. In addition, the collaborative academic atmosphere, achievement motivation, and academic engagement exerted marginally diminishing effects on scientific creativity. This study provides theoretical and practical insights for initiatives of doctoral students in cultivating creativity, especially in a collectivist context.