People are biased against creative ideas, studies find

[villager]

People are biased against creative ideas, studies find

By Mary Catt

The next time your great idea at work elicits silence or eye rolls, you might just pity those co-workers. Fresh research indicates they don't even know what a creative idea looks like and that creativity, hailed as a positive change agent, actually makes people squirm.

"How is it that people say they want creativity but in reality often reject it?" said Jack Goncalo, ILR School assistant professor of organizational behavior and co-author of research to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science. The paper reports on two 2010 experiments at the University of Pennsylvania involving more than 200 people.

The studies' findings include:

*Creative ideas are by definition novel, and novelty can trigger feelings of uncertainty that make most people uncomfortable.

*People dismiss creative ideas in favor of ideas that are purely practical -- tried and true.

*Objective evidence shoring up the validity of a creative proposal does not motivate people to accept it.

*Anti-creativity bias is so subtle that people are unaware of it, which can interfere with their ability to recognize a creative idea.

-snip-


http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Aug11/ILRCreativityBias.html

Perhaps this is our species fatal Achilles' heel? Or more "locally," perhaps it explains the failure of the current administration...

[handmade34]

1. don't I know it...

:eyes:

[kristopher]

2. That certainly explains a lot of things I've seen over the years...

Here is a link to download the full text of the study. Thanks to Cornell for participating in the Digital Commons.

http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1457&context=articles

[DaveJ]

3. Well, I dunno but, people certainly aren't free to express themselves much anymore

In the all seeing world of the web now, people can't seem to say anything without getting bombarded with criticism, which I'm certain stamps out people's desire to be creative.

There is a lot to be said for tried and true approaches though. Often solving a problem requires technical education in the topic, so I can see how someone with a tried and true approach might roll their eyes at someone's solution if it is uneducated, even if it is creative.

I can see both sides of the argument.

[kristopher]

5. The only "argument" in the paper is the one people have with themselves...

They claim to want creativity while simultaneously rejecting it.

Could you more clearly state what you see as an "argument"?

[DaveJ]

6. Mary Catt's argument

She was saying that people are biased against creativity. This is an assertion that started "off" the argument. (sorry I'm not good with the quotes. I hope I put them in the right place.)

[kristopher]

8. Let's avoid confusion

I put "argument" in quotes because it has multiple meanings that shouldn't be confused.

ar·gu·ment Noun/ˈärgyəmənt/
1. An exchange of diverging or opposite views, typically a heated or angry one: "I've had an argument with my father".
2. A reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong.

Your first post referred to def. #1; your header in the second post would be the study authors' "argument" as described in def. #2.

What you seem to be doing is carrying the conversation forward and beyond the OP by asking a question the study doesn't address, "Which problem solving strategy is most effective?"

[DaveJ]

9. There clearly is an argument

If it is not problem solving (Obama's effectiveness) what do you propose the argument is? A point is clearly being made, and I interpret it to be that Obama lacks effectiveness because he does not implement creative strategies. If I would defend Obama in a Right Wing forum I'd certainly defend him here too.

[kristopher]

10. Obama has nothing to do with the paper - please stop making things up

Here is the OP press release: http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Aug11/ILRCreativityBias.html

And you can download the full paper here: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1457&context=articles

If YOU wish to make a statement about politics or Obama as it relates to the paper, then make it in your name, not that of the authors.

[DaveJ]

11. Didn't you read the last line of the OP or its title?

I am responding to what is written in the OP. I'm sure the research paper is legitimate since it was release by a respected institution. I'm responding to the conjecture that arose from it.

[kristopher]

13. OK, I see where you are coming from.

I don't think it is really a relevant path of discussion vis a vis this paper, but that is my opinion, and you are certainly entitled to pursue your own. I see Obama's difficulties as being rooted in excessive partisanship that is mono-maniacally dedicated to stopping anything he tries to do and then smearing him with the angst resulting from a lack of accomplishment.

[DaveJ]

12. LOL - It's kind of ironic

That the OP bemoans lack of creativity while 90% of its content is copy/paste.

[villager]

14. ???

A bizarre response to the posting of a study, yes?

[bemildred]

4. People disagree about which ideas are great. nt

[truedelphi]

7. as far as the last sentence:

I have at least two friends that believe that Obama's major failing is his lack of imagination.

I agree with them, but I also believe that if he was judged by Powers that Be to be a creative individual, capable of coming up with novel solutions and using imaginative methods for problem solving, the Powers that Be would never have chosen him.