Abstract
BACKGROUND: Negative feedback, aimed at bridging the gap between current performance and external standards, can either enhance or diminish creative outcomes. On the basis of feedback intervention theory, this study proposes that the negative feedback hierarchy can influence individuals’ creativity through affective (positive and negative) and cognitive (strategy modification) pathways. METHODS: A total sample of 264 university students participated across three experiments. Experiment 1 randomly assigned 95 participants to personal negative feedback, task negative feedback and no feedback groups and measured their pre- and post- affects and creativity. Experiment 2 randomly assigned 72 participants to personal negative feedback and task negative feedback groups and measured their strategy modification, pre- and post- motivation and creativity. Experiment 3 randomly assigned 97 participants to the cognitive reappraisal, strategy modification and dual intervention groups and measured their creativity before and after receiving personal negative feedback. RESULTS: Compared with those receiving personal negative feedback, participants receiving task negative feedback presented increased fluency and originality of Alternative Uses Tasks, reported less reduction in positive affect and displayed greater strategy modification. The relationship between the negative feedback hierarchy and creativity is partially mediated by positive affect and fully mediated by strategy modification. The strategy modification group outperformed the cognitive reappraisal group with respect to improvements in fluency of Realistic Presented Problems. The group receiving both interventions exhibited significant enhancements in fluency of both tasks and flexibility of Realistic Presented Problems, surpassing the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with personal negative feedback, task negative feedback leads to less decline in positive affect and greater strategy modification, thus promoting creativity. Supportive interventions targeting both emotional and cognitive pathways effectively mitigate the adverse effects of personal negative feedback on creativity. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-025-03642-8.