Management Papers

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of this Version

1-2012

Publication Source

Psychological Science

Volume

23

Issue

1

Start Page

13

Last Page

17

DOI

10.1177/0956797611421018

Abstract

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.

Keywords

creativity, bias, stereotyped attitudes, social cognition

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Date Posted: 27 November 2017

This document has been peer reviewed.