Does Polish Post-Communist Cultural Burden Influence the Percep�on of Crea�ve Iden��es?

Objec�ve: Post-communist countries, affected by decades of one of the most repressive poli�cal systems, are perceived as a par�cular area of gaps in social capital. These gaps influence the whole spectrum of behaviors of individuals, groups, and society. Countries that changed their poli�cal system start a journey of external (economic, social) and internal (personal, interpersonal, group) changes. The post-communist burden determines human behavior, so leaders and managers should pay a�en�on to these consequences. The research deals with the differences in percep�on of crea�ve iden��es (a creator, ar�st, manager, entrepreneur, and leader) by Polish society compared to other countries without communist history. Methodology: Quan�ta�ve research (n = 160) in the form of a survey among people from Poland and other countries. Verifica�on of hypotheses by chi-square test of independence used (SPSS, MS Excel). Next, a qualita�ve analysis of discrepancies was undertaken (NVivo). Findings: There are no sta�s�cal differences in the percep�on of crea�ve iden��es of a creator, ar�st, manager, entrepreneur, and leader between ci�zens of Poland and ci�zens of other countries. The addi�onal qualita�ve analysis exposed that differences in percep�on of the crea�ve iden��es between inves�gated socie�es might have necessary consequences while managing or leading groups (and organiza�ons) dominated by crea�ve individuals. These differences are shown in detail, and links between our research results and the literature are built. Value Added: It looks like a post-communist burden in current Poland has a minimal impact on the percep�on of crea�ve individuals. Thus, it can be said that communism disappears from the social capital during one genera�on (ca. 30 years). Recommenda�ons: Further research exploring the percep�on of crea�ve iden��es by different analogical groups of compared socie�es would be valuable.

ci�zens are not the same and vary in the case of each of the above iden��es.

Materials & Methods
Ini�ally, secondary research in the form of reviewing literature was undertaken (NVivo Pro). The literature review approach was based on a qualita�ve selec�on of materials from EBSCO, Google Scholar, JSTOR, Mendeley, Scopus, and Web of Science. The methodological approach was based on an interdisciplinary and mul�paradigm tac�c referring to arts and aesthe�cs, crea�vity, management, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
The nonparametric chi-square test of independence dedicated to small samples that do not have a normal distribu�on was used to verify the hypotheses. The pairs of the observed values were compared with pairs of the expected values for each hypothesis. The p-value of the tests was < 0.001. Data analysis was executed using IBM SPSS and MS Excel. Due to the minor size of the sample (n = 160), complex sta�s�cs were not executed. Therefore, this ar�cle exhibits only some conclusions from the whole inves�ga�on.
The survey en�tled "Percep�on of crea�vity, ar�stry, entrepreneurship, leadership and managerial abili�es" lasted 34 days, i.e., from 20�� December 2020 to 23�� January 2021. Two undis�nguishable surveys, one in English and the other in Polish, were distributed by direct contact (sending requests to par�cipate in the survey) and using indirect public utensils (social networks, collec�ve messages to various types of communi�es). The number of people asked to par�cipate in the inves�ga�on is es�mated at approximately 2-3 thousand. Eight hundred seventy-nine people were interested in taking part in the survey, which was judged by clicking on the link leading to the survey. The authen�c contribu�on to the study, consis�ng of filling in the ques�onnaire, was a�ended by 160 individuals, which is 18.2% of those interested in taking part in the research. The average �me spent filling in the ques�onnaire was almost 33 minutes, and the typical respondent was 38 years old. Among the respondents: women represented 42.5% and men 57.5%; people with higher educa�on (bachelor, master, engineer) 64.57%, people with doctoral, postdoctoral, or professor degrees 18.90%, people with secondary educa�on 15.75%. The respondents originated from 28 countries: 74% from developed countries and 26% from developing countries (United Na�ons, 2021). 71.7% were from European countries, 28.3% from non-European countries; 49.6% from Poland, and 50.4% from other countries.

Current state of knowledge
Communism as the almighty demon, and ethnocentric individualism as an internal way of individual's determinism, are two dominant metatheories explaining post-communist socie�es' social capital weakness. Dilemmas, exceeding genera�ons and material differences, occupy the minds of both na�onal decision-makers and crea�ve individuals on whom the quality of the social fabric depends. Weak but socially approved social capital prac�ces combine corrup�on, bribery, and favori�sm and achieving ins�tu�onal fairness. Decades of convergence with mature democracies help people have different aspira�ons, well suited to the context of post-communist transforma�on, to make up for the delay of decades gripping the jaws of communism (Soaita & Wind, 2020). Change between publicly-and private-owned resources influences people's minds, behaviors, and goals (Huber & Montag, 2020). Researchers inves�gated the quality of social capital among many post-communist socie�es (Dolšak, 2019;Markowska-Przybyła, 2020;Nicoara, 2018;Soaita & Wind, 2020).
An ar�st's iden�ty has been described historically as an ar�san, a genius, a doer, a God's will doer, a master, a holy man in touch with the hidden, a cultural aristocrat, a knowledge worker, a professional, an entrepreneur, a freedom maker, an influencer, a value or idea guardian, a collaborator, a superman (Deresiewicz, 2020;Tatarkiewicz, 2015). In addi�on, the ar�st's iden�ty may be iden�fied as a copyist, a conceptualist, an ar�s�c cra�sman (ar�san), and a creator (Szostak & Sułkowski, 2020a).
The manager may be perceived as an administrator (an official), a manager-theore�cian, a professional, a crea�ve manager (a leader). A manager with extraordinary crea�vity and competence in his field can be named a management ar�st; it will also be authorized to call the manager as an ar�st/virtuoso who, achieving his ideas, knows how to organize reality according to his inten-�ons (Szostak & Sułkowski, 2020a). Researches of educa�onal in-s�tu�ons reveal factors affec�ng managerial crea�vity (alpha-be�cally): ac�on-oriented, confidence, domain exper�se, emo-�onal stability, innova�ve leadership a�ributes, openness, professional development, risk tolerance (Alsuwaidi & Omar, 2020). The literature emphasizes the intense influence of managers on their employees' crea�vity (Williams, 2001), but the level of crea�vity among managers varies depending on many factors, e.g., gender (Ahmad & Zadeh, 2016). Crea�vity also has its paradoxes in the form of assump�ons and unanswered ques�ons (DeFillippi, Grabher, & Jones, 2007). The literature shows that the level of a leader's self-iden�ty impacts vision communica�on with collaborators and subordinates posi�vely (Venus et al., 2019). The narcissis�c personality has an essen�al impact on a leader's iden�ty integra�on (Chen, 2018), but it may nega�vely impact the organiza�on (Szostak & Sułkowski, 2020b). Transforma�onal leadership and procedural jus�ce pos-i�vely and meaningfully affect manager trust, and manager trust posi�vely impacts crea�ng a maintainable organiza�onal iden�ty (Erat, Kitapçi, & Akçin, 2020).

Results and Discussion
Discussing each research hypothesis separately, from the sta�s�cal point of view, we can say that: H1 (Polish ci�zens perceive the cre-a�ve iden��es of a creator, ar�st, manager, entrepreneur, and leader differently than ci�zens of the rest of the world) is verified nega�vely. The chi-square value amounted to 390.35 for a creator, 394.21 for an ar�st, 406.27 for a manager, 40747 for an entrepreneur, and 411.35 for a leader. For the df = 49, using the chi-square distribu�on table, the chi-square value = 85.3506 was found. Based on the above, the results are sta�s�cally significant for the significance level of p = 0.001. H2 (The differences in percep�on of crea�ve iden��es of a creator, ar�st, manager, entrepreneur, and leader by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens are not the same and vary in the case of each of the above iden��es) is verified nega�vely. The chi-square value = 40,193. For the df = 4, using the chi-square distribu�on table, the chi-square value = 18.4668. It means that the result is sta�s�cally significant for the significance level of p = 0.001. In each inves�gated crea�ve iden�ty case, the means of the 50 features perceived by Polish ci�zens are lower less than 2.10% comparing to non-polish ci�zens. It can be said that Polish ci�zens perceive crea�ve iden��es slightly weaker than the rest of the world: see figure 1. The nega�ve verifica�on of research hypotheses was astonishing and should be perceived as a novelty in the inves�gated area. Although both hypotheses were sta�s�cally verified nega�vely, the qualita�ve analysis of the in-depth characteris�cs of the inves�gated iden��es reveals that these iden��es interpenetrate and are considered to be more or less complementary.

Creator's iden�ty
The ten most important features of a creator's iden�ty perceived by Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): passion in ac�on, selfconfidence, resistance to fails and failures, visualiza�on skills (ima-gina�on), observa�on, courage, innova�on, out of the box thinking (breaking pa�erns), originality, ability to synthesize and draw conclusions. On the other hand, the ten most cri�cal features of a creator's iden�ty perceived by non-Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, passion in ac-�on, visualiza�on skills (imagina�on), courage, self-confidence, originality, ability to set goals, ability to focus on details, innova-�on, honesty. Percep�on of the par�cular 50 examined characteris�cs of the creator's iden�ty by Polish ci�zens compared to non-Polish ci�zens reveals the following conclusions. The ten features of the creator's iden�ty perceived as the least cri�cal by Polish than non-Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): resistance to fails and failures, charisma, observa�on, being guided by reason (ra�onalism), out of the box thinking (breaking pa�erns), independence, focusing on financial profit, self-confidence, interpersonal skills (communic-a�veness, reading emo�ons, sensi�vity to others), innova�on. The ten features of the creator's iden�ty seen as the most cri�cal by Polish than non-Polish ci�zens are (in ascending order): conser-va�sm, disorder (mess, chaos, randomness in ac�on), sensi�vity to Truth, sensi�vity to Good, ability to focus on details, pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, improving quality through repe�-�on, honesty, being guided by faith and spirituality, care. The ten features of the creator's iden�ty perceived the most similarly by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens are pragma�sm (prac�cality), con-nec�ng contradic�ons, jus�ce, se�ng goals, efficiency, ability to analyze, leadership, a tendency to plan, ambi�on, responsibility. The variety of dispari�es in the answers referring to the creator's iden�ty seen by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens may be observed in figure 2 and figure 3.

Ar�st's iden�ty
The ten most principal features of an ar�st's iden�ty perceived by Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): passion in ac�on, selfconfidence, visualiza�on skills, imagina�on, originality, sensi�vity to Beauty, observa�on, pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, individualism, tendency to be inspired, resistance to fails and failures. Conversely, the ten most vital features of an ar�st's iden-�ty seen by non-Polish ci�zens individuals are (in descending order): passion in ac�on, pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, visualiza�on skills (imagina�on), originality, improving quality through repe��on, self-confidence, ability to focus on details, tendency to be inspired, courage, ambi�on. Percep�on of the par�cular 50 studied quali�es of the ar�st's iden�ty by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens reveals the following conclusions. The ten features of the ar�st's iden�ty perceived as the least cri�cal by Polish than non-Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): sensi�vity to Truth, focusing on crea�ng added (non-financial) value, sensi�vity to Beauty, perfec�onism, out of the box thinking (breaking pa�erns), self-confidence, connec�ng contra-dic�ons, individualism, tendency to change, charisma. The ten a�ributes of the ar�st's iden�ty perceived as the most cri�cal by Polish than non-Polish ci�zens are (in ascending order): a tendency to control, focusing on financial profit, respect for tradi�on and history, a tendency to risk, an inner sense of control, a tendency to plan, pragma�sm (prac�cality), ability to analyze, being guided by faith and spirituality, care. The ten features of the ar�st's iden�ty perceived the most similarly by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens are courage, ability to synthesize and draw conclusions, pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, efficiency, jus�ce, conserva�sm, in-nova�on, improving quality through repe��on, ability to resolve conflicts, ability to focus on details. The whole spectrum of differences in the responses about the ar�st's iden�ty perceived by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens shows figure 4 and figure 5. The ten most important features of a manager's iden�ty perceived by Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): efficiency, responsibility, ability to analyze, pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, ability to set goals, ability to resolve conflicts, self-confidence, a tendency to plan, resistance to fails and failures, ambi�on.
The ten most important features of a manager's iden�ty perceived by non-Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): a tendency to plan, efficiency, ability to resolve conflicts, responsibility, ability to set goals, interpersonal skills (communica�veness, reading emo-�ons, sensi�vity to others), pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, ability to analyze, self-confidence, searching for opportuni�es. Percep�on of the par�cular 50 inves�gated features of the manager's iden�ty by Polish ci�zens compared to non-Polish ci�zens reveals the following conclusions. The ten features of the manager's iden�ty perceived as the least cri�cal by Polish than non-Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): independence, leadership, resistance to fails and failures, sensi�vity to Beauty, con-nec�ng contradic�ons, courage, out of the box thinking (breaking pa�erns), ambi�on, observa�on, tendency to be inspired. The ten features of the manager's iden�ty perceived as the most cri�cal by Polish than non-Polish ci�zens are (in ascending order): solving problems in a methodical way (logic), respect for tradi�on and his-tory, interpersonal skills (communica�veness, reading emo�ons, sensi�vity to others), conserva�sm, disorder (mess, chaos, randomness in ac�on), ability to focus on details, sensi�vity to Truth, sensi�vity to Good, being guided by faith and spirituality, care. The ten features of the manager's iden�ty perceived the most similarly by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens are the ability to resolve conflicts, an inner sense of control, jus�ce, pragma�sm (prac�cality), focusing on financial profit, a tendency to plan, being guided by emo-�ons, honesty, searching for opportuni�es, solving problems in a methodical way (logic). The range of differences in the manager's iden�ty perceived by managers and nonmanagers shows figure 6 and figure 7. The ten most important features of an entrepreneur's iden�ty perceived by Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): focusing on financial profit, self-confidence, ability to set goals, responsibility, efficiency, resistance to fails and failures, searching for op-portuni�es, a tendency to plan, pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, courage. The ten most important features of an entrepreneur's iden�ty perceived by non-Polish ci�zens individuals are (in descending order): pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, searching for opportuni�es, se�ng goals, responsibility, am-bi�on, efficiency, courage, self-confidence, resistance to fails and failures, innova�on. Percep�on of the par�cular 50 examined features of the entrepreneur's iden�ty by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens reveal the following conclusions. The ten features of the entrepreneur's iden�ty seen as the least cri�cal by Polish than non-Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): focusing on financial profit, being guided by reason (ra�onalism), ability to synthesize and draw conclusions, an inner sense of control, tendency to control, self-confidence, a tendency to plan, jus�ce, perfec�onism, efficiency. The ten features of the entrepreneur's iden�ty seen as the most cri�cal by Polish than non-Polish ci�zens are (in ascending order): individualism, out of the box thinking, breaking pa�erns, ability to focus on details, care, charisma, a tendency to risk, sensi�vity to Truth, sensi�vity to Good, disorder (mess, chaos, randomness in ac�on), being guided by faith and spirituality. The ten features of the entrepreneur's iden�ty perceived the most similarly by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens are: conserva�sm, searching for opportuni�es, am-bi�on, methodically solving problems (logic), pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, focusing on crea�ng added (non-financial) value, interpersonal skills (communica�veness, reading emo�ons, sensi�vity to others), respect for tradi�on and history, being guided by emo�ons, sensi�vity to Beauty. The variety of dispari�es in the answers referring to the entrepreneur's iden�ty seen by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens displays figure 8 and figure 9.

Leader's iden�ty
The ten most important features of a leader's iden�ty perceived by Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): the ability to set goals, charisma, ability to resolve conflicts, resistance to fails and failures, self-confidence, courage, pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, responsibility, interpersonal skills (communica�veness, reading emo�ons, sensi�vity to others), observa�on. The ten most important features of a leader's iden�ty perceived by non-Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): charisma, responsibility, ability to resolve conflicts, pa�ence and persistence in achieving goals, ability to set goals, self-confidence, interpersonal skills (communic-a�veness, reading emo�ons, sensi�vity to others), courage, ambi-�on, a tendency to plan.  Percep�on of the specific 50 explored features of the leader's iden�ty by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens reveals the following conclusions. The ten features of the leader's iden�ty perceived as the least cri�cal by Polish than non-Polish ci�zens are (in descending order): leadership as an autotelic (in itself) value, individualism, resistance to fails and failures, ability to set goals, independence, focusing on crea�ng added (non-financial) value, visualiza�on skills by intui�on. The ten features of the leader's iden�ty perceived as the most cri�cal by Polish than non-Polish ci�zens are (in ascending order): a tendency to control, honesty, sensi�vity to Truth, improving quality through repe��on, being guided by emo�ons, disorder (mess, chaos, randomness in ac�on), ability to focus on details, sensi�vity to Good, being guided by faith and spirituality, care. The ten features of the leader's iden�ty perceived the most similarly by Polish and non-Polish ci�zens are a tendency to risk, out of the box thinking (breaking pa�erns), an inner sense of control, responsibility, charisma, a tendency to change, ambi�on, pragma�sm (prac�cality), respect for tradi�on and history, solving problems in a methodical way (logic). The whole range of differences in percep�on of the leader's iden�ty by managers and nonmanagers displays figure 10 and figure 11.

Final remarks
The limita�ons of the research are: 1) The research was run during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic; 2) The research sample (n = 160) was rela�vely small in comparison to the analyzed problem; 3) Conclusions cannot be widely representa�ve due to complexity of the research problem.
The research results can be used by: 1) Leaders and managers for a) be�er understanding the layers of personality and complex iden�ty in the context of Polish culture, b) comparison of own iden�ty with the general percep�on of a par�cular role in reference do Polish society; 2) Researchers wan�ng to inves�gate the similari�es and differences between iden�ty and its percep�on in area of crea�ve iden��es in reference do Polish perspec�ve.
Poten�al ques�ons for future qualita�ve research or the hypothesis for further quan�ta�ve inves�ga�ons may be the following: 1) Self-percep�on may vary from the percep�on of the iden�ty depending on the belonging to the par�cular society; 2) Self-percep-�on is similar to the iden�ty features perceived by society if their na�on structure is similar.