The Share of Thinking Styles in Predicting Emotional Creativity of Students in Islamic Azad University of Khoy

The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of thinking styles in predicting students' emotional creativity in Islamic Azad University of Khoy. The present research was a correlational one with the purpose of prediction. The statistical population of the study consisted of 900 male and female students of humanities in Islamic Azad University of Khoy Branch in the academic year 2014-2015. The sample size was 268 students out of which 110 were male and 158 female. The sampling method was stratified random sampling. The short form of Sternberg Thinking Styles Questionnaire (α = 0.95) and Avril Emotional Creativity Questionnaire (α = 0.77) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression. The results showed that between the first type of thinking (legal, judgmental, hierarchical, general and liberal thinking) and the second type (executive, local, monarchical, conservative) and the third type (anarchist, oligarchic, internal). Also, there was a significant difference in the first (legal, judgmental, hierarchical, universal and liberal thinking) and third (anarchist, oligarchic, internal and external) styles of male and female students. But there was no significant difference in thinking styles and emotional creativity with regard to the field of study and the gender of the students. Finally, the results of multiple regression showed that type II thinking styles (executive, local, monarchic, conservative) can significantly predict students' emotional creativity (β = 0.434).