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Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations
Squeezed In The Middle: The Middle Status Trade Creativity For Focus, Michelle M. Duguid, Jack Goncalo
Squeezed In The Middle: The Middle Status Trade Creativity For Focus, Michelle M. Duguid, Jack Goncalo
Jack Goncalo
Classical research on social influence suggested that people are the most conforming in the middle of a status hierarchy as opposed to the top or bottom. Yet, this promising line of research was abandoned before the psychological mechanism behind middle status conformity had been identified. Moving beyond the early focus on conformity, we propose that the threat of status loss may make those with middle status more wary of advancing creative solutions in fear that they will be evaluated negatively. Using different manipulations of status and measures of creativity, we found that when being evaluated, middle status individuals were less …
The Liberating Consequences Of Creative Work: How A Creative Outlet Lifts The Physical Burden Of Secrecy, Jack Goncalo, Lynne Vincent, Verena Krause
The Liberating Consequences Of Creative Work: How A Creative Outlet Lifts The Physical Burden Of Secrecy, Jack Goncalo, Lynne Vincent, Verena Krause
Jack Goncalo
A newly emerging stream of research suggests creativity can be fruitfully explored, not as an outcome variable, but as a contributor to the general cognitive and behavioral responding of the individual. In this paper, we extend this nascent area of research on the consequences of creativity by showing that working on a creative task can contribute to feelings of liberation— feelings that can help people to overcome psychological burdens. We illustrate the liberating effects of creativity by integrating the embodied cognition literature with recent research showing that keeping a secret is experienced as a psychological and physical burden. While secrecy …
Creativity From Constraint? How Political Correctness Influences Creativity In Mixed-Sex Work Groups, Jack Goncalo, Jennifer Chatman, Michelle Duguid, Jessica Kennedy
Creativity From Constraint? How Political Correctness Influences Creativity In Mixed-Sex Work Groups, Jack Goncalo, Jennifer Chatman, Michelle Duguid, Jessica Kennedy
Jack Goncalo
Most group creativity research is premised on the assumption that creativity is unleashed by removing normative constraints. As work organizations become increasingly diverse in terms of gender, however, this assumption needs to be reconsidered since mixed-sex interactions carry a high risk of offense. Departing from the assumption that normative constraints necessarily stifle creativity, we develop a theoretical perspective in which creativity in mixed-sex groups is enhanced by imposing a norm to be politically correct (PC)—a norm that sets clear expectations for how men and women should interact with one another. We present evidence from two group experiments showing that the …
Outside Advantage: Can Social Rejection Fuel Creative Thought?, Sharon H. Kim, Lynne C. Vincent, Jack Goncalo
Outside Advantage: Can Social Rejection Fuel Creative Thought?, Sharon H. Kim, Lynne C. Vincent, Jack Goncalo
Jack Goncalo
Eminently creative people working in fields as disparate as Physics and Literature refer to the experience of social rejection as fuel for creativity. Yet, the evidence of this relationship is anecdotal, and the psychological process that might explain it is as yet unknown. We theorize that the experience of social rejection may indeed stimulate creativity but only for individuals with an independent self-concept. In three studies, we show that individuals who hold an independent self-concept performed more creatively following social rejection relative to inclusion. We also show that this boost in creativity is mediated by a differentiation mindset, or salient …
Embodied Metaphors And Creative “Acts”, Angela K.-Y. Leung, Suntae Kim, Evan Polman, Laysee Ong, Lin Qiu, Jack A. Goncalo, Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks
Embodied Metaphors And Creative “Acts”, Angela K.-Y. Leung, Suntae Kim, Evan Polman, Laysee Ong, Lin Qiu, Jack A. Goncalo, Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks
Jack Goncalo
Creativity is a highly sought after skill. To inspire people’s creativity, prescriptive advice in the form of metaphors abound: We are encouraged to think outside the box, to consider the problem on one hand, then on the other hand, and to put two and two together to achieve creative breakthroughs. These metaphors suggest a connection between concrete bodily experiences and creative cognition. Inspired by recent advances on body-mind linkages under the emerging vernacular of embodied cognition, we explored for the first time whether enacting metaphors for creativity enhances creative problem-solving. In five studies, findings revealed that both physically and psychologically …
The Bias Against Creativity: Why People Desire But Reject Creative Ideas, Jennifer S. Mueller, Shimul Melwani, Jack A. Goncalo
The Bias Against Creativity: Why People Desire But Reject Creative Ideas, Jennifer S. Mueller, Shimul Melwani, Jack A. Goncalo
Jack Goncalo
People often reject creative ideas even when espousing creativity as a desired goal. To explain this paradox, we propose that people can hold a bias against creativity that is not necessarily overt, and which is activated when people experience a motivation to reduce uncertainty. In two studies, we measure and manipulate uncertainty using different methods including: discrete uncertainty feelings, and an uncertainty reduction prime. The results of both studies demonstrated a negative bias toward creativity (relative to practicality) when participants experienced uncertainty. Furthermore, the bias against creativity interfered with participants’ ability to recognize a creative idea. These results reveal a …
Disentangling Achievement Orientation And Goal Setting: Effects On Self-Regulatory Processes, Supaporn Vithayathawornwong, Sheila Danko, Pamela S. Tolbert
Disentangling Achievement Orientation And Goal Setting: Effects On Self-Regulatory Processes, Supaporn Vithayathawornwong, Sheila Danko, Pamela S. Tolbert
Pamela S Tolbert
Creativity has been underscored as a key factor to organizational adaptability and competitiveness in today's rapidly changing business environment. Designing as well as managing work environments that facilitate creativity have therefore received growing attention, resulting in a multitude of research examining the social-psychological work environment. Few studies, however, have focused on the contribution of the physical work environment to supporting creativity in the workplace. This study focuses on the role of the physical environment in supporting creativity in organizations by identifying specific physical features and attributes of the work environment perceived to promote or inhibit creativity. The research design compares …
From A Mirage To An Oasis: Narcissism, Perceived Creativity, And Creative Performance, Jack Goncalo, Francis J. Flynn, Sharon H. Kim
From A Mirage To An Oasis: Narcissism, Perceived Creativity, And Creative Performance, Jack Goncalo, Francis J. Flynn, Sharon H. Kim
Jack Goncalo
We examine the link between narcissism and creativity at the individual, relational, and group levels of analysis. We find that narcissists are not necessarily more creative than others but they think they are, and they are adept at convincing others to agree with them. In the first study, narcissism was positively associated with self-rated creativity, despite the fact that blind coders saw no difference between the creative products offered by those low and high on narcissism. In a second study, more narcissistic individuals asked to pitch creative ideas to a target person were judged by the targets as being more …