Creativity Not as Well Received as We Think

Discovery News:

Using creativity to solve problems is usually encouraged and championed as companies’ secret to success. But researchers have questioned whether people actually welcome creative tastes with open arms.

At least among adult college students, the team found somewhat the opposite.

Because creative ideas are also new, they seem to give rise to uncertainty or even discomfort for others who depend on the tried-and-true way of doing things. To reduce uncertainty, subconsciously rejecting a creative idea may be easier than accepting it.

Even in cases in which creative ideas show promise, it’s still hard for other people to accept them, researchers say. Many people may not notice their inner bias against creativity and it may even get in the way of recognizing creative ideas, according to the study.

In two experiments featured in the journal Psychological Science, researchers measured 213 undergraduates’ responses to creative ideas. By definition, the ideas presented in the set-ups had to be both new and useful.

The first experiment split participants into two groups: experimental and baseline. Researchers told members of the test group that they may be entered in a lottery drawing for money, which was intended to heighten feelings of uncertainty. Participants were asked to rate a series of words based on whether they were “creative or practical” and “good or bad.”

Read the whole story: Discovery News