Managing malice in negative environments: the mediating effect of coping styles on the relationship between negative sense of place and malevolent creativity among Chinese high school students.

Background: Creativity motivated by negative intentions can be referred to as malevolent creativity. While existing findings have largely focused on environmental or individual factors influencing malevolent creativity, less attention has been directed towards understanding how the sense of place-derived from individual-environment interaction-affects malevolent creativity. Additionally, the role of coping styles as mediating mechanisms in negative environments has been insufficiently explored.

Methods: This study aims to investigate the relationship between negative sense of place and malevolent creativity, while examining the mediating role of coping styles. To this end, a paper-based survey was conducted among 1310 Chinese high school students, utilizing the Negative Sense of Place Scale, Coping Styles Scale, and Malevolent Creativity Scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.3.

Results: The findings revealed that a negative sense of place in the school environment significantly and positively predicted malevolent creativity. Negative sense of place was also positively associated with negative coping styles and negatively associated with positive coping styles. Furthermore, coping styles mediated the relationship between negative sense of place and malevolent creativity.

Conclusion: This study enriches existing literature by elucidating the links between sense of place, coping styles, and malevolent creativity. These findings provide valuable insights for strategies aimed at reducing malevolent creativity and preventing harmful creative behaviors in educational contexts.