This study aims to explore the relationship between the residential staff’s perception of creativity potential and externalizing behavior problems among the residential students in Macau. A cross-rater report was adopted for data collecting, with 37 raters who worked in the residential setting voluntarily participating in this study. The 124 Chinese students, (54 females and 70 males, aged 6-17), who lived in the residential setting, were assessed with guardian-reported creativity test: the scales for rating the behavioral characteristics of superior students (SRBCSS)-Chinese version and guardian-reported children behavior checklist (CBCL)-Chinese version by 37 residential staff. Gender difference was found to be significant in the residential staff’s perception of creativity potential and marginally significant in the residential staff’s perception of externalizing behavior problems. Moreover, correlation analysis showed that there was a positive relationship between the residential staff’s perception of creativity potential and externalizing behavior problems in male residential students, but not in female residential students. Results are discussed in relation to gender, culture context and restrictive circumstances are associated with conception of creativity may shape how creativity is perceived to relate to problem behaviors in students