From Passion to Performance: The Roles of Engagement and Enjoyment in Enhancing Creativity of Chinese Music Major Students

ABSTRACT Creativity is a critical yet underexplored competency among Chinese music major students, particularly in relation to psychological constructs such as engagement and enjoyment. To address this gap, the present study proposed a parallel mediation model to examine the relationships between engagement, enjoyment (including personal enjoyment, social enjoyment, and teacher appreciation), and creativity, drawing on the frameworks of Self‐Determination Theory (SDT) and the Componential Theory of Creativity. Using SEM analysis on questionnaire data collected from 922 music major students across China, the study revealed that engagement was significantly and positively associated with all three dimensions of enjoyment, each with a strong path coefficient. Furthermore, engagement directly predicted creativity with a moderate effect, independent of enjoyment. Among the three dimensions of enjoyment, only teacher appreciation exhibited a statistically significant, though modest, positive effect on creativity. The findings suggested that while engagement fosters creativity directly, enjoyment plays a partial and dimension‐specific mediating role. The study contributed to a deeper understanding of how psychological factors shape creative development in music education and offers pedagogical insights for instructors seeking to enhance student creativity through engagement and emotionally supportive teaching practices.