The Bias Against Creativity: Why People Desire but Reject Creative Ideas

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Management Papers
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creativity
bias
stereotyped attitudes
social cognition
Advertising and Promotion Management
Arts Management
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Mueller, Jennifer S
Melwani, Shimul
Goncalo, Jack A
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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 that is activated when people experience a motivation to reduce uncertainty. In two experiments, we manipulated uncertainty using different methods, including an uncertainty-reduction prime. The results of both experiments demonstrated the existence of a negative bias against creativity (relative to practicality) when participants experienced uncertainty. Furthermore, this bias against creativity interfered with participants’ ability to recognize a creative idea. These results reveal a concealed barrier that creative actors may face as they attempt to gain acceptance for their novel ideas.

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2012-01-01
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Psychological Science
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