The present study explores the development of a creative identification scale. Research on creativity supports the notion that individuals suppress creative ideation to avoid discrimination in social contexts, such as school and work (Adarves-Yorno, Haslam, & Postmes, 2008; Mueller, Melwani, & Goncalo, 2012). Several scales have been developed and widely used to measure creativity, but no scale exists to measure how individuals view their own creativity. This study will work off the ethnic identity framework set by Torrance (1968) and builds off ego identity as outlined by Marcia (1980). Although creative identity has been examined across various groups, there exists no statistically sound instrumentation to identify students who are most likely to require a variety of services for developing their personal creativity. Given the findings in support of the benefits of creativity to the individual and to organizations as well as the evidence of a bias toward novel ideas and creative individuals, it is necessary to develop a scale to measure the degree to which individuals identify with or suppress their creative tendencies and divergent thinking styles. The draft instrument consists of 30 items related to creative development and creative identity drawn from extant literature describing the creative identity process. These items are culled as a result of this study in anticipation of a follow-up study for confirming the factor structure so that a highly reliable and valid instrument for long-term use emerges. The instrument is piloted on a sample of students from a school of visual and performing arts. Reliability is tested with a measure of internal consistency. Validity is tested with principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Findings will lead to a Confirmatory Factor Analytic study to yield an instrument that schools interested in creative development can use for identification, for admission, and for program evaluation.

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