Gifted Education International2001 Vol15, pp 133-140 ©2001 A B Academic Publishers

obstacles to personal creativity among university students1 This study examined personal obstacles to creativity among 385 university students. The Obstacles to Personal Creativity Inventory was administered to this sample. This instrument focuses on several factors that may block the expression of personal creativity. The results showed that the highest mean was observed in the factor labeled Lack of Time/Opportunity, followed by Inhibition/Shyness. Significant differences in means values were observed among male and female, and private and public university students. The male students ' mean was higher in the factor labeled Lack of Motivation, while the Social Repression's mean was higher for female students. The private university students present-ed higher means in two clusters of obstacles: Inhibition/Shyness and Lack of Opportunity. The results point to several obstacles to personal creativity, which are common among university students. These obstacles should be known by those involved in education for them to help students to be less suscepti-ble to obstacles that hinder their creativity. Several conditions are.necessary for the per-son to express fully his(her) creative poten-tial. Factors such as thinking styles, personal-ity traits, values and motivation, affect the expression of creativity. Creativity, however, is not solely an intrapsychic phenomenon. Social and cultural factors, such as values and society norms, also contribute to the recognition and cultivation of creativity. Education and the learning culture are, as well, of foremost importance for the develop-ment of the creative potential. The role of education for the emergence of new ideas was highlighted by Alencar (1993; 1995a