Creative people have two extreme characteristics which seem to be conflicting, or show
only one extreme characteristic according to situation. Csikszentmihalyi(1996) arranged the
characteristics in the ten dimensions and called them complexity. The purpose of this study
is to examine the differences in implicit knowledge of creativity using complexity
questionnaire in three east Asian countries(Korea, China, Japan) which were considered to
have one culture.
The results of this study were as follows : in the area, “physical energy & quiet/restful”
and “humble & proud”, Korean and Japanese showed similar rates and Chinese showed
lower rate. In the areas of “smart/wisdom & naive/childlike”, “extroversion & introversion”,
and “irresponsibility/playfulness & responsibility/discipline”, Korean, Japanese, Chinese in
order showed higher rates. In the area, “masculinity and femininity”, Japanese showed the
highest rate, and in the area, 'enjoyment and suffering', Japanese, Korean, and Chinese in
order showed the higher rates. The study will provide empirical data for the systems model
of creativity and exploratory research for the differences in implicit knowledge of creativity
and complexity of Asian three countries which considered as a same culture area.