Which Chinese Creators Are Famous and Why: Views from Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese Students

The list of recognized creators is constantly changing with the passage of time. An up-to-date list of recognized Chinese creators emerges from a survey of a large sample of Chinese students in various places in China. To understand the sustainability of the creators' fame, this study examines how the creators' personal characteristics affect their fame, creativity, social contribution, and esteem, based on the students' view-points. Results show that scientists, compared with other professionals, consistently maintained higher fame, creativity, and social contribution. This finding is consistent with the emphasis on science, rationality, and objectivity in modern education as well as the meritorious evaluation bias in perceiving the utility of creativity in Chinese society. The creator's creativity showed an inverted-U shaped relationship to fame. Hence, a moderate level of creativity was associated with the highest fame in the creator. There were some differences between Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese students' perceptions of the sustainability of fame, which is largely attributable to the influence of commercialism in Hong Kong. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)