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Task Structure, Need for Structure, and Creativity
Abstract
Although creativity is often seen as requiring spontaneity and flexibility, recent work suggests that there is creative potential in a structured and systematic approach as well. In a series of four experiments, we show that when Personal Need for Structure (PNS) is high, either chronic (Study 1) or situationally induced (Study 2), creative performance benefits from high task structure. Further, in line with earlier work on cognitive fixation effects, we show that when high task structure contains an example of noncreative task execution, creative performance is impaired, regardless of individuals' PNS. Nevertheless, participants high in PNS react relatively favorably to high task structure (Study 3) and are more likely to adopt a structured task approach when given the choice (Study 4). In sum, our results show that task structure can both stimulate and inhibit creative performance, particularly for people high in need for structure. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
... One strand takes a situational approach, focusing on contextual factors of group dynamics as a whole, such as team diversity [93], level of structure [e.g., 41], group size [38], collaboration duration [59], and medium of collaboration [22]. Another strand takes an individual perspective, focusing on group members' social, perceptual, and cognitive factors [16,27], individuals' need for structure [77], intuitive or systematic work strategies [e.g., 43,82], and training [6]. And finally, a third strand takes a socio-technological approach, focusing on collaborative computational infrastructures and tools [e.g., 30,52,86]. ...
... One study has shown that group task decomposition, i.e., asking the participants three questions, one at a time, yielded greater productivity compared to one all-encompassing question [21]. Not related to group work, examination of task structure and individuals' cognitive style of personal need for structure has shown that task structure can stimulate and inhibit creative work [77]. In the same view, examination of the interplay between task structuring and individuals' systematic or intuitive cognitive styles has shown that structure supported creative work but inhibited intuitive individuals' productivity [82]. ...
... Gender diversity can impact group work [7]. Individual differences and epistemic needs are also shown to affect individuals' productivity [77]. ...
Group work involves a myriad of complex processes encompassing social, perceptual, cognitive, and contextual factors. However, there is a lack of empirical research on computer-supported group work processes and their impact on outcomes at different stages of group work, especially when creativity and quality of outcomes are significant. Group work processes can interfere and hinder productivity, which we refer to as the "group folding effect. " We designed a three-stage process structuring to enhance group work productivity. In a field study, we examined how process structuring shapes productivity in two sub-studies: design and peer feedback, each with 40 participants (N = 40). The results revealed that process structuring significantly improved both the quantity and quality of productivity. Additionally, process structuring appeared to reduce inhibitory effects of group work, such as negative priming, fixation on familiar ideas, and social comparison. We discuss the implications of this research in supporting productive group work processes in collaborative tools and insights into a pattern of the group folding effect.
... Par ailleurs, Csikszentmihalyi et Csikszentmihalyi (2006) affirme qu'une idée peut apporter des changements mineurs, qui s'inscrivent dans la continuité par rapport aux activités existantes au sein de l'entreprise, mais elle peut être aussi source de changements majeurs présentant une rupture par rapport aux activités habituelles de l'entreprise. En effet, les idées peuvent conduire à des innovations de nature incrémentale ou radicale (Shalley et al., 2004 ;Lisein, Degré, 2011, Rietzschel et al., 2014. ...
... Par exemple, elles pourraient conduire à l'enfermement de l'entreprise dans des activités d'exploitation, ce que Killen et Hunt (2010), reprenant March (1991), appellent le « piège de l'exploitation ». Comme souligné par Rietzschel et al. (2014), les individus ont tendance à sélectionner les idées incrémentales dans lesquelles ils croient, plutôt que les idées radicales qui nécessitent une prise de risque plus importante. ...
... Pour faire face à cette hétérogénéité des idées qui complexifie la sélection (Rietzschel et al., 2014 ;Eling et al., 2016 ;Pétervàri et al., 2016), certains auteurs suggèrent la mise en place d'un processus de sélection flexible, capable de s'adapter à chaque type d'idées (Bessant et al., 2011 ;Geraldi, 2008 ;Blichfeldt, Eskerod, 2008). Selon Holahan et al. (2014), l'utilisation d'un processus formel pour la sélection des idées radicales permet une meilleure maîtrise des risques inhérents. ...
The Selection of Incremental and Radical Ideas: Lessons from a Case Study
This article examines the way in which the ideas put forward by the employees of an industrial firm are selected. Its objective is to provide a fine and renewed understanding of the process dimension of this key stage in the management of innovation and creativity. To achieve this objective, it explores the decision-making process at work within the Bosch MoP company, combining qualitative interviews (with 38 actors in the process) and study of the argumentative interactions exchanged during 4 deliberation meetings of the innovation committee in charge of the selection. The results show first of all that the idea selection process differs in its components, organizational scope and trajectories depending on whether one is dealing with incremental or radical ideas. These two types of ideas are also the subject of specific arguments during the innovation committees in charge of deciding on their acceptance or rejection. The results also show that selection is indeed a sequenced, modular (depending on the type of ideas put forward) and mixed process, where logical-mathematical and social approaches complement each other.
JEL CODE: O31
... Neuberg and Newsom [10] suggest that the Personal Need for Structure is related to the lower level of Openness to Experience -a trait strongly associated with creativity [6]. In Rietzschel's, Slijkhuis' and Van Yperen's studies [12], the negative correlation between creativity and the need for simple structure was observed, especially in case of tasks without a detailed, step-by-step instruction. ...
... The higher the score, the higher the motivation to create simple structures. Beside the general result, the scale allows to describe two qualities: the need for structure in everyday life (PNS Desire for structure -items: 3, 4, 6 and 10) and the way of reacting to the lack of structure (PNS Response to lack of structure -items: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8,9,11,12). Due to its weaker connection with other statements, item no. 5 was not included in the general result, nor in any of the sub-scales [10]. ...
... The lack of significant correlations between grades in the projection design and the results from the examination in geometry with the ability to understand complex spatial structures, and the openness to ambiguity and novelties, might signalize that, during the process of architectural education, and for the final evaluation, the abilities connected with reproducing of the already-known structures are more important than innovative designing of space, which is of secondary importance. Or that the tasks involving the creativity are very structured, which significantly facilitates the functioning of individuals with high levels of PNS [12]. Those conclusions are consistent with findings stating that the individuals with the need for structure -understood as the need for any sort of answer in an unclear situation to avoid uncertainty -are less creative than those with lower intensity of this trait [4], but when task is highly structured, they could be as much creative [12]. ...
Od architektów wymaga się kreatywności oraz zdolności rozumienia konstrukcji struktur przestrzennych. Z tego powodu unikanie niepewności i konieczność upraszczania złożonych struktur mogą powodować, że efekt pracy architektów nie będzie odpowiedni. Wykorzystując skale Indywidualnej Potrzeby Struktury (PNS) i PNS-Geometria, starano się określić, czy rzeczywiście osoby, u których natężenie tych cech jest wysokie, będą miały problem z rozumieniem konstrukcji złożonej struktury przestrzennej i prawidłowym rozwiązywaniem zadań geometrycznych. Wyniki pilotażowego badania wydają się potwierdzać tę tezę.
... Several studies have shown the relevance of need for structure for organizational behavior. Hence, people with a strong need for structure have a strong desire for workplace hierarchy (Friesen et al., 2014), perform better in clearly structured working tasks (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & van Yperen, 2014b), and are less innovative and creative (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & van Yperen, 2014a). Moreover, they prefer task-oriented leadership (Ehrhart & Klein, 2001) and react rather positively to close monitoring (Rietzschel et al., 2014b) and to prototypical leaders (Leicht, Crisp, & Randsley de Moura, 2013). ...
... Hence, people with a strong need for structure have a strong desire for workplace hierarchy (Friesen et al., 2014), perform better in clearly structured working tasks (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & van Yperen, 2014b), and are less innovative and creative (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & van Yperen, 2014a). Moreover, they prefer task-oriented leadership (Ehrhart & Klein, 2001) and react rather positively to close monitoring (Rietzschel et al., 2014b) and to prototypical leaders (Leicht, Crisp, & Randsley de Moura, 2013). On a more general level, people with high need for structure are more dogmatic and rigid, develop more routines, are more conscientious, are less open to experience, and have higher levels of neuroticism (Neuberg & Newsom, 1993;Machunsky & Meiser, 2006). ...
... In our study, we tested and found that the indirect effect of humor on the outcome variables was stronger for followers with a less strong desire for order, hierarchy, and clearly structured social situations (i.e., for followers low in need for structure). This finding highlights the role of personal need for structure as an important individual-difference variable in the context of organizational behavior (Rietzschel et al., 2014b). Moreover, it informs humor research and, more precisely, contributes to answering the call for more research on individual differences in humor reception and reactions (Ruch, Hofmann, Platt, & Proyer, 2014) by showing that informality and perceived status-leveling-which go along with humor in leadership-may be difficult to deal with for employees high in need for structure, leading to less positive effects of leader humor. ...
Recent research has established a positive relationship between humor in leadership and organizational behavior variables. However, neither the mechanisms nor the boundary conditions of the positive effects of humor in leadership are completely understood. In this study, we contribute to these questions by investigating the relationship between humor in leadership and follower commitment and burnout in more detail. We propose that these relationships unfold via a relational process and specified this relational process in terms of leader–member exchange. Moreover, we assume that these relationships depend on followers' personal need for structure. We tested the hypothesized moderated-mediation model in a two-wave survey study with 142 employees. Our results support the proposed model. We found the predicted indirect effect of humor on commitment and disengagement to be stronger for followers low in need for structure. However, we did not find the proposed effects for emotional exhaustion. We discuss implications for leadership theory, humor theory, and for leadership training and practice.
... More recently, PNS has become focused on research of creativity (Gocłowska, Baas, Crisp, & De Dreu, 2014;Gocłowska & Crisp, 2013;Rietzschel, De Dreu, & Nijstad, 2007;Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014;Slijkhuis, Rietzschel, & Van Yperen, 2013). These studies especially focused on the moderating role of PNS, i.e. several studies (Gocłowska et al., 2014;Gocłowska & Crisp, 2013;Rietzschel et al., 2014;Slijkhuis et al., 2013) reported that the strength of relations between creative performances and certain kinds of experimental tasks or situations were changed according to the participants' strength in PNS. ...
... More recently, PNS has become focused on research of creativity (Gocłowska, Baas, Crisp, & De Dreu, 2014;Gocłowska & Crisp, 2013;Rietzschel, De Dreu, & Nijstad, 2007;Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014;Slijkhuis, Rietzschel, & Van Yperen, 2013). These studies especially focused on the moderating role of PNS, i.e. several studies (Gocłowska et al., 2014;Gocłowska & Crisp, 2013;Rietzschel et al., 2014;Slijkhuis et al., 2013) reported that the strength of relations between creative performances and certain kinds of experimental tasks or situations were changed according to the participants' strength in PNS. It was reported, for example, that more creative ideas were generated after the counter-stereotypical thinking only for the participants with low PNS (Gocłowska & Crisp, 2013), and that higher creative performances were achieved in informational evaluative situations only when the individuals' PNS was low (Slijkhuis et al., 2013). ...
... Third, the present research conducted validation of the PNS-J only by cross-sectional surveys. Although previous experimental studies showed the predicting role of PNS in relation to strategies for reducing cognitive load (Clow & Esses, 2005;Gordon, 1997;Moskowitz, 1993;Neuberg & Newsom, 1993;Schaller et al., 1995) and the moderating role of PNS concerning creativity (Gocłowska et al., 2014;Gocłowska & Crisp, 2013;Rietzschel et al., 2014;Slijkhuis et al., 2013), it is uncertain from the present research whether these predicting and moderating roles can be observed by using the PNS-J. Application of the PNS-J is therefore desirable in future experimental studies that test hypotheses of the predicting or moderating roles of PNS. ...
Personal need for structure (PNS) refers to individual differences in tendency to structure huge amounts of information into a simplified form, and was frequently examined in previous research in association with strategies for reducing cognitive load and with creativity. The present research developed a new Japanese-translated version of the PNS Scale (PNS-J) and conducted two surveys with samples of Japanese university students to validate the PNS-J. Study 1 (N = 244) examined internal consistency and factor structure of the PNS-J. Although the Response to Lack of Structure subscale and the total 11 items had sufficient internal consistency (α = .73, .76, respectively), the Desire for Structure subscale had a smaller value for internal consistency (α = .55). Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the two-factor model of the PNS-J fit the data better than the one-factor model, as shown in the studies that validated the original PNS Scale. Study 2 conducted assessments at two time points (T1 and T2) to examine correlations between the PNS-J and other related variables, and to evaluate test-retest reliability of the PNS-J with a 4-week interval. Analyses using the T1 dataset (N = 354) provided convergent evidence of validity with big-five personality traits and discriminant evidence with need for cognition. Analyses using both the T1 and the T2 dataset (N = 245) showed that both the Desire for Structure subscale (r = .67, p < .001, 95% CI [.60, .72]) and the Response to Lack of Structure subscale (r = .80, p < .001, 95% CI [.76, .83]) had acceptable test-retest reliability. These findings from the present research supported that the PNS-J was mostly comparable to the original PNS Scale. The PNS-J may contribute to future research on strategies for reducing cognitive load and on creativity in Japan, with a focus on individual differences.
... Barr and colleagues (2015), for instance, find that performance during convergent thinking tasks is aided by engaging Type 2 processing, while Sowden et al. (2015: 45) note how identification of structural attributes and their potential function in different contexts "is consistent with Type 2 processes alone." Similarly, Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, and van Yperen (2014) and Sagiv, Arieli, Goldenberg, and Goldschmidt (2010) show that individuals with a more systematic thinking approach react more favorably to high task structure (such as convergent thinking tasks), whereas individuals with a more spontaneous approach fare worse when task structure is imposed. Individuals with lower spontaneous blink rates both during rest (Chermahini & Hommel, 2010) and during the completion of a convergent thinking task (Ueda et al., 2016) perform better on such tasks, indicating that a focused state of mind supports convergent thinking. ...
... Another potential explanation for this lack of consistent patterns might be that the alternate uses task might have been too unstructured-preventing participants from successfully engaging in the task, independent of language used, anxiety, or any other systematic characteristics (Goldenberg et al., 1999;Sagiv et al., 2010). Although the alternate uses task does offer some degree of structure, with participants being given a set of rules about what does and does not constitute a valid idea in addition to being presented an extensive example (which in many ways might serve a role as the template highlighted in Goldenberg et al., 1999), future work varying the degree of structure imposed during creativity tasks might enable valuable new insights about the conditions under which foreign language use can stimulate and inhibit creative performance (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014;Sagiv et al., 2010). ...
... Personal Need for Structure seems particularly relevant, as it appears to come closest to how CCT defines structure: Personal need for structure can be defined as the need for simple, clear, predictable, and consistent interpretations of the world, to make it easier to navigate through complex realities (Landau et al., 2015;Neuberg & Newsom, 1993). Individual differences in the extent to which people desire such interpretations of the world are well-documented (Cutright, 2012;Friesen et al., 2014;Landau et al., 2015;Rietzschel et al., 2014). For example, people with high (vs. ...
... low) personal need for structure have a stronger motivation to manage existential anxiety (Landau et al., 2004) and they are more creative when task instructions are structured (vs. unstructured; Rietzschel et al., 2014; see also Gocłowska et al., 2014). ...
Control is a fundamental motive in people's lives and previous research converges on the notion that lack of control is aversive because it undermines epistemic beliefs in the nonrandomness of the world. A key motivation underlying control is therefore the need to perceive the world as structured. However, strong individual differences exist in the extent to which people need structure. Based on this, we reasoned that if structure is indeed a key motive underlying control motivation, instances of low control should be more impactful for people with a high need for structure. We tested this logic in three studies. Results confirmed that participants with high personal need for structure evaluated a control-threat as more important and more negative than those with low personal need for structure. Need for structure did not impact evaluations of instances of control-affirmation. The current research shows that control is indeed important, but even more so for people with a high need for structure.
... A personality characteristic which could account for this different experience of formalization is personal need for structure (PNS), defined as a ''chronic desire for clarity and certainty, and a concomitant aversion to ambiguity'' (Elovainio & Kivimäki, 1999: 210). This concept represents individual differences in preferences for the manifestations of structure (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014). ...
... If such participation and flexibility is not allowed, these members may view the presence of organizationally mandated collective rules and procedures as coercive and constraining (Barker, 1993), limiting the meaningfulness that they personally derive from work. In fact, they may be better able to derive meaning from work when team formalization is low, because they then have the freedom to develop their own mechanisms for structuring the work (Rietzschel et al., 2014), in unique and idiosyncratic ways, unencumbered by a mandated set of rules. ...
Global teams may help to integrate across locations, and yet, with formalized rules and procedures, responsiveness to those locations’ effectiveness, and the team members’ experiences of work as meaningful may suffer. We employ a mixed-methods approach to understand how the level and content of formalization can be managed to resolve these tensions in multinationals. In a sample of global teams from a large mining and resources organization operating across 44 countries, interviews, observations, and a quantitative 2-wave survey revealed a great deal of variability between teams in how formalization processes were enacted. Only those formalization processes that promoted knowledge sharing were instrumental in improving team effectiveness. Implementing rules and procedures in the set-up of the teams and projects, rather than during interactions, and utilizing protocols to help establish the global team as a source of identity increased this knowledge sharing. Finally, we found members’ personal need for structure moderated the effect of team formalization on how meaningful individuals found their work within the team. These findings have significant implications for theory and practice in multinational organizations.
... That is especially true in the case of technology education in which hands-on activities are needed to increase student confidence, self-efficacy, and develop the ability to recognize the added value of high-quality technology and engineering education (Rohaan et al. 2012). Moreover, task structure can both stimulate and inhibit creative performance (Rietzschel et al. 2014). Paechter et al. (2010) assumed the structure and coherence of the Factors influencing pre-service preschool teachers' … 1 3 curriculum and learning material to be a major factor in facilitating meaningful learning. ...
... Satisfaction with course design A high level of satisfaction leads to lower attrition rates, higher persistence in learning, and higher motivation in pursuing additional technology and engineering courses (Avsec and Kocijancic 2016;Lucas & Nordgren 2015;Tapola et al. 2013). Structured tasks in technology and engineering courses could reduce the cognitive load and enhance creativity (Rietzschel et al. 2014). In accordance with the above findings, we designed six items for this dimension ( Table 6, a subscale of course satisfaction, items 1-6) in the following categories: (1) perceived satisfaction with the learning environment; ...
Engineering thinking enhances real-world learning; it emphasises system thinking, problem finding and creative problem solving as well as visualising, improving, and adapting products and processes. Several studies have investigated how pre-service preschool teachers acquire their knowledge of technology and engineering; however, a clear presentation of the factors that affect their engineering thinking is still lacking. Pre-service preschool teachers’ attitudes to technology, their perceptions of and experiences with their own engagement in technology and engineering activities, and their creative potential could contribute to their engineering thinking. To address these gaps, we used data from an empirical study of 154 early childhood pre-service teachers from two Middle European universities in Slovenia and Poland. A conceptual model was hypothesized, tested, and supported by the results using confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modelling. Our findings revealed significant associations among pre-service teachers’ attitude towards technology, perceptions, and behaviour as well as on the role of their experience in a technology and engineering course in the relationship between attitudes toward technology and behavioural practice. Our results offer important implications about how to prepare pre-service teachers for innovative performance towards enhancing technological knowledge and skills.
... For example, autonomous situations characterized by freedom fit well with the need for autonomy, but are not beneficial for those high in need for structure, as such situations often imply a lack of structure (Rietzschel, 2015;Slijkhuis, Rietzschel, & Van Yperen, 2013). In fact, people high in need for structure prefer a predetermined task structure over high autonomy (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014). Moreover, findings on group performance and group creativity suggest that the way people attend to and make use of others' input depends on both epistemic (such as need for structure) and social motives (such as need for autonomy) (De Dreu et al., 2008). ...
... Hence, they tend to form and use simple cognitive structures (such as cognitive heuristics and schemas) with the aim of simplifying the environment into a manageable form (Neuberg & Newsom, 1993). Moreover, people with a high need for structure perform most creatively under conditions of clarity and focus (Rietzschel, De Dreu, & Nijstad, 2007;Rietzschel et al., 2014). ...
In the current research, we aimed to address the inconsistent finding in the brainstorming literature that cognitive stimulation sometimes results from novel input, yet other times from non-novel input. We expected and found, in three experiments, that the strength and valence of this relationship are moderated by people’s psychological needs for structure and autonomy. Specifically, the effect of novel input (vs. non-novel input), through perceived creativity, on cognitive stimulation was stronger for people who were either low in need for structure or high in need for autonomy. Also, when the input people received did not fit their needs, they experienced less psychological cognitive stimulation from this input (i.e., less task enjoyment and feeling more blocked) compared with when they did not receive any input. Hence, to create the ideal circumstances for people to achieve cognitive stimulation when brainstorming, input novelty should be aligned with their psychological needs.
... jker worden om met een originele of verrassende oplos‐ sing of idee te komen; deels omdat er een 'norm' gesteld wordt waar mensen aan zullen proberen te voldoen (bijv. Ruscio & Amabile, 1999), en deels omdat het, na presentatie van een voorbeeld, moeilijk is om dit voorbeeld níét te gebruiken (Jansson & Smith, 1991; Smith, Ward & Schumacher, 1993). Rietzschel et al. (2014b) lieten dit zien door taakstructuur op twee manieren aan te bieden. In hun eerste twee experimenten kregen proefpersonen een stappen‐ plan dat geïllustreerd werd met een voorbeeld dat irrelevant was voor de teken‐ taak (deelnemers moesten een buitenaards wezen tekenen, het stappenplan werd uitgelegd aan de hand van een kip). Zoals hierbo ...
... Allereerst lijkt het belangrijk om een duidelijk beeld te hebben van de behoeftes en voorkeuren van individuele medewerkers, én daarbij stereotiepe beelden van de 'creatieve per‐ soonlijkheid' overboord te zetten. Dat iemand bijvoorbeeld zegt of toont veel behoefte aan structuur en duidelijkheid te hebben, betekent niet per definitie dat hij of zij niet creatief kan zijn, maar wel dat hij of zij andere omstandigheden nodig heeft om creatief te kunnen zijn (Rietzschel, De Dreu & Nijstad, 2007; Rietzschel et al., 2014b). De volgende stap is dan ook het creëren van die omstandigheden – of mensen de ruimte geven om deze zélf te creëren. ...
Although creativity is commonly associated with autonomy and the absence of rules or external constraints, reality is more complex. In this review paper, I explain that autonomy, although important, can imply complexity, and hence can inhibit both intrinsic motivation and creative performance. Furthermore, I show that the relation between autonomy (or the lack thereof) and motivation and creativity depends on individual differences. External constraints and structure can, for some people, enhance motivation and creativity. In doing so, however, it is important that people are given concrete information about relevant strategies, rather than about desired outcomes.
... Here, they must be prepared to challenge existing thought paradigms (Nicolet 2018). Moreover, they need to ensure that all those involved in innovation are doing their work in accordance with the organisation's directive, while minimising redundancy (Rietzschel et al. 2014). ...
In the face of an intricate defense landscape, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confronts evolving challenges, necessitating transformative strategies. In the past decade, the IDF championed innovation through decentralized silos (“islands of innovation”), steered by 4 th generation Chief Innovation Officers (CINOs) with ‘liquid professionalism’. Since the establishment of the Combat Methods and Innovation (CMI) division, the IDF has formed an institutionalized innovation management system, managed by intraorganizational 5 th generation CINOs. This system allowed binding these islands into a cohesive framework (an archipelago) designed to rapidly respond to internal developments and external challenges, showcasing the IDF’s capacity to navigate the complexities of modern warfare with agility and foresight. The main contribution of this article is two-folded, first it advocates for the cultivation of two types of change agents: a. the ‘transformative commanders’, leaders adept at instigating profound, organization-wide change; b. intraorganizational 5 th generation CINOs. Second, it introduces a dual-pronged framework specifically designed to harness and streamline a bottom-up innovation within military organizations, and in particularly within the context of the IDF. This interdisciplinary framework is derived from both sociological and organizational systems engineering perspectives. The methodology employed to delineate its contributions leverages the theory of systematic operative design.
... This research on the processes that explain the effect of ESM use on office administration work performance has not been widely studied. According to some researchers (Mäntymäki & Riemer, 2016;Wang, Cai, Liu and Zheng, 2016) knowing the effects of ESM use in the workplace is critical to advancing ESM theory and consistent ESM management, and argue that task interdependence provides employees with goal-specific information and procedures to use that information effectively (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis & Van Yperen, 2014) and that influences employee creativity and performance (Ruscio & Amabile, 1999). ...
... The instructions given to participants also have the effect of limiting the space that they work in. Various empirical studies have shown that the originality of the solutions proposed increases when the instructions to the task delimit the boundaries of the space within which to search (e.g., Biskjaer et al. 2020;Caniëls and Rietzschel 2013;Chaffois et al. 2015;Medeiros et al. 2014;Moreau and Dahl 2005;Rietzschel et al. 2014;Rosso 2014;Sellier and Dahl 2011;Stokes 2005). Thus, constraints are not necessarily detrimental to creative performance. ...
In this paper, we focus on the link between thinking in opposites and creativity. Thinking in opposites requires an intuitive, productive strategy, which may enhance creativity. Given the importance of creativity for the well-being of individuals and society, finding new ways to enhance it represents a valuable goal in both professional and personal contexts. We discuss the body of evidence that exists concerning the importance of the first representation of the structure of a problem to be solved, which determines the baseline representation and sets limits on the area within which a problem solver will explore. We then review a variety of interventions described in the literature on creativity and insight problem solving that were designed to overcome fixedness and encourage people to move away from stereotypical solutions. Special attention is paid to the research carried out in the context of problem solving, which provides evidence that prompting people to “think in opposites” is beneficial. We suggest that an extended investigation of the effects of this strategy in various types of tasks related to creativity is an interesting line of research to follow. We discuss the rationale supporting this claim and identify specific questions, both theoretical and methodological, for future research to address.
... Novija istraživanja dodatno pokazuju da struktura zadatka utiče na kreativnost (Nouri et al., 2013). Visoko strukturisani zadaci u kojima se upućuje na vrstu odgovora ili specifičan cilj dovode do manje originalnih odgovora, dok suprotno tome, slabo definisani i otvoreni zadaci evociraju originalnija rešenja (Nouri et al., 2013;Ruscio & Amabile, 1999), iako je ova veza takođe oposredovana ličnom potrebom za strukturom (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014). Slično tome, potreba za strukturom je često u negativnoj vezi sa kreativnošću, odnosno, kreativniji ljudi ujedno favorizuju nedostatak strukture i definisanosti problemske situacije, dok manje kreativni ljudi demonstriraju potrebu za većim stepenom uređenosti i izvesnosti (Nijstad et al., 2010). ...
Kreativnost podrazumeva produkciju novih i svrsishodnih ideja, rešenja ili proizvoda (Nijstad et al., 2010; Runco i Jaeger, 2012). Savremeni kognitivistički modeli posmatraju kreativnost kao posledicu ne-specifične, fundamentalne kognicije i u formiranju kreativnih ideja podrazumevaju kako divergentne, tako i konvergentne procese. Za razliku od toga, tradicionalni modeli razumeju kreativnost kao specifičnu kogniciju. U ovom radu se analizira odnos između apofenije – tendencije da se uviđaju obrasci tamo gde ih nema (Brugger, 2001) – i kreativnosti. Apofenija, pored toga što podrazumeva lažne pozitive, takođe predstavlja produkciju novih, ali nekorisnih i neadaptivnih ideja. Da bi se analizirao odnos između apofenije i kreativnosti, zauzima se stav savremenih kognitivističkih modela kreativnosti. Prema tome, formiranje novih i neuobičajenih ideja se posmatra kao posledica isključivog rada divergentnih procesa. Konvergentni procesi dalje ograničavaju divergentne i omogućuju formiranje novih, a korisnih ideja. Na osnovu pretpostavki o ulogama koje ova dva procesa imaju u kreativnosti, apofenija se posmatra kao još jedna posledica divergentnih procesa. U tom slučaju izostaje uloga konvergentnih procesa, te divergentno mišljenje dovodi do samo novih, a nekorisnih – apofeničnih – ideja.
... On one hand, widely employed strategies such as brainstorming (Osborn, 1953) advocate for free association and no restriction on how ideas are generated. On the other hand, past research has argued that structure imposed through instructions may also result in creative outcomes (Rietzschel et al., 2014;Sagiv et al., 2010). Beghetto (2019), for example, describes the benefits of "structured uncertainty" whereby creative expression in classrooms can be supported by giving students the opportunity to engage with uncertainty while providing instructional supports (e.g., informational constraints; defined criteria). ...
The current research examines the utility of using creative outcome goals and process goals to enhance creativity. We propose that although creative outcome goals are likely to have a direct positive impact on creativity, the relationship between process goals and creativity is mediated by creative process engagement. Results from an experimental study demonstrated that creative outcome goals, particularly specific creative outcome goals, relate directly as well as indirectly to outcome creativity through creative process engagement. Creative process goals, however, impact outcome creativity only indirectly through creative process engagement. Process goals also had a negative impact on perceptions of autonomy, which resulted in lower levels of intrinsic motivation and ultimately creativity. The findings suggest that goals can be effective for enhancing both creative process engagement and outcome creativity; however, care should be taken to ensure that goals do not negatively impact autonomy.
... For example, individuals with a higher need for structure may dislike atonal music, because its structure is more difficult to perceive; individuals with a lower need for structure, who are inclined to break the monotony and routine, are more likely to develop a preference for this kind of music. Previous studies also find that individuals with a lower need for structure have better cognitive flexibility and creativity [34,35]. ...
Research on the aesthetic experience of music has largely focused on tonal music, while relatively less is known about individuals’ differences in the aesthetic experience of atonal music. According to the compensatory control theory, we hypothesized that perceived personal control significantly and positively predicted individuals’ tendency to prefer atonal music, while the need for structure played a mediating role. The present research investigated who tends to prefer atonal music, and why. A sample of college students listened to atonal music and completed questionnaires on perceived personal control, the need for structure, and their aesthetic judgment of the music. Our analysis showed that individuals with higher perceived personal control exhibited a stronger tendency to prefer atonal music, compared with those who had lower perceived control; moreover, the need for structure played a mediating role between perceived control and aesthetic experience of atonal music. These results revealed which audience was suitable for atonal music and extended the explanatory scope of the compensatory control theory. The theoretical and practical implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.
... Previous studies tended to regard the need for structure as an independent variable and to examine its predictive effect on other psychological outcomes [45,46]. Conversely, few studies have taken the need for structure as a dependent variable and focused on the factors influencing it. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic is profoundly affecting the minds and behaviors of people worldwide. This study investigated the differences in the need for structure among people from different social classes and the psychological mechanisms underlying this need, as well as the moderating effect of the threat posed by the pandemic. Using data collected from non-student adults in China, we found that the lower an individual’s social class, the lower their need for structure, and this effect was based on the mediating role of perceived control. However, the mediating effect was moderated by pandemic threat, and the above relationship existed only when this threat was low. When the level of pandemic threat was higher, neither the effect of social class nor of perceived control on the need for structure were significant. Specifically, in higher-threat situations, the need for structure among individuals from higher social classes and who had a higher sense of control increased significantly, meaning the mediating effect was no longer significant. This finding showed that under the threat of a pandemic, individuals who have a lower need for structure will still pursue and prefer structure and order. The theoretical and practical implications of the research are also discussed.
... On the other hand, innovators who can make sense of and cope with complex and contradictory leader behaviors (Ishaq et al., in press) may feel less restricted in their selfconcordance when managers engage in process management. Similarly, innovators who have a high personal need for structure (Rietzschel et al., 2014) may appreciate closer guidance. To conclude, we encourage future research to pay closer attention to follower characteristics when disentangling innovation-facilitating and innovation-undermining facets of managerial influence. ...
Managers play a pivotal role in the innovation process; yet, the mechanisms through which managers enhance or undermine innovation are not well understood. Drawing upon self‐concordance theory, we argue that managers can augment employees’ self‐concordance—defined as the congruence of goals and actions with inner values and preferences—through transformational behavior and thereby contribute to innovation. However, transformational behavior is closely coupled to another form of influence, namely process management, the attempt to directly manage innovation‐related activities. This form of managerial influence reduces employees’ self‐concordance and thereby undermines innovation. We test our conceptual model in a sample of 188 innovation projects using a contextualized method that asked employees to assess their self‐concordance and their managers’ behavior during each project. Managers evaluated for each project the innovativeness of the outcome. Multi‐level path‐analysis provided support for our hypotheses. We discuss future research implications to disentangle innovation‐facilitating and innovation‐undermining facets of managerial influence.
... To further increase the attractiveness and suitability of BWAs for individuals high in PNS, customized BWAs could include giving employees more guidance on how to complete their tasks. Rietzschel et al. (2014) found that the stronger an individual's PNS, the more creatively they performed tasks that have a specific step-by-step structure. Further, core working hours could be defined and regular team meetings could be organized (Gerdenitsch, 2017;Kossek et al., 2015). ...
In blended working arrangements (BWAs), employees have discretion over when and where they work. Although BWAs are proliferating worldwide, the lack of predefined temporal and locational structures is unlikely to appeal to every employee. To investigate with whom and when BWAs cause positive reactions, we conducted two experimental vignette studies among full-time employees. In Study 1, we used a 2 (BWAs: yes vs. no) × 2 (development support: yes vs. no) between-subjects design (N = 212) and, in Study 2, a within-subjects design with the same factors (N = 114). Additionally, in both studies, we measured individual differences in autonomy orientation and personal need for structure. Study 1 showed that, relative to traditional working arrangements, BWAs enhance organizational attractiveness and intention to demonstrate organizational citizenship behaviour. In Study 2, in which employees could compare working arrangements, we only found effects of BWAs among employees high in autonomy orientation or low in personal need for structure. Development support for independent working was not found to moderate the effects of BWAs. By indicating which employees tend to prefer BWAs, our findings could help organizations determine employees’ suitability for such arrangements, which is likely to contribute to BWAs being effective.
... Businesses use Enterprise social media tools in particular for workrelated, information-sharing and social communication (Ortbach and Recker, 2014), which has a positive impact on the trust in the organization, and are important for both employees and organizations themselves (Huang andcoll, 2015, Kuegler andcoll, 2015). In the same way, the motivation and dissemination of information on specific activities and procedures to use these models efficiently (Rietzschel, 2014) is motivated to develop the creativity and performance of employees (Ruscio and Amabile, 1999). Many organizations are therefore starting to focus on developing strategies that focus on developing the competence skills of their employees. ...
The key competences of the employees are currently discussed and the open labor market. Competencies can be divided into three basic categories: knowledge competencies, application competencies and social competencies. Each work environment brings its specifics and the aim of the article is to find similarities and differences in the key competencies of employees of healthcare organizations and non-healthcare organizations. In order to achieve the objective of the article, a questionnaire survey was used, involving 791 respondents from healthcare organizations and 647 nonhealthcare organizations. In total 1438 questionnaires were evaluated. The research was conducted from May 2017 to September 2018. The first phase of the research was conducted through semi-standardized interviews with 73 representatives of healthcare organizations and 69 representatives of non-healthcare organizations. Qualitative research was attended by representatives of the personnel department, respectively human resource management department. The second stage of the research was followed by quantitative research. Quantitative research was conducted from January 2018 to September 2018. Key competencies were selected on the basis of importance, and the author of the article deals with those that respondents have identified as most important for their work. Here we can find the first differences in the identification of key competencies in healthcare organizations and nonhealthcare organizations. Respondents of healthcare organizations have identified as the most important the ability to communicate, the ability to learn, teamwork, reliability, dedication to work, empathy, emotional maturity and work under stress, while non-healthcare organizations respond as key communication skills, IT skills, creativity, team work, reliability, emotional maturity, and work under stress. Three research hypotheses have been identified. The research hypotheses were verified using the Two-sample t-Test statistic for equal means.
... Our findings extend the literature on P-E fit. Although researchers have examined the 330 effects of fit between personality and job ( Kristof-Brown et al., 2005), organization (Hoffman 331 & Woehr, 2006;Kristof-Brown et al., 2005), or environment in general (Sen, Acar, & 332 Cetinkaya, 2014), rarely have they investigated fit between personality and a task at hand (but 333 see Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014a, 2014bSlijkhuis, Rietzschel, & Van Yperen, 334 2013). We found that the fit between personality (NFC) and type of activity (solving a 335 convergent vs. divergent thinking task) increases feelings of competence, and indirectly 336 improves emotional functioning at high levels of NFC. ...
We investigated how people high (vs. low) in the Need for Cognitive Closure (NFC) experience working on divergent and convergent thinking tasks. Based on the notion of person-task fit, we hypothesized that individuals high in NFC (but not those low in NFC) would feel less competent when solving divergent (vs. convergent) thinking tasks, because, being open-ended, divergent thinking tasks do not offer closure. We also predicted that, consequently, high NFC individuals would experience less positive emotions and more negative emotions when performing a divergent (vs. convergent) thinking task. To test this idea, we measured NFC among participants (N = 549) from five European countries and asked these participants to complete a divergent (vs. convergent) thinking task and to appraise their own competence and emotions. Participants high in NFC (but not these low in NFC) felt less competent and experienced less positive and more negative emotions when solving a divergent (vs. convergent) thinking task. The association between task type and emotions was mediated by perceived competence but only for participants high in NFC.
... A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT that task interdependence provides employees with goal-related specific information and procedures on how to efficiently use this information (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014), making a difference in the creativity and performance of employees (Ruscio & Amabile, 1999). Task interdependence is the degree to which the interaction and coordination of employees are required to complete tasks in the workplace (Guzzo & Shea, 1992). ...
This study investigates how the utilization of enterprise social media (ESM) influences the work performance of employees through task interdependence. ESM is an open and public platform that facilitates employee discussions on work-related issues. Most scholars in this area focus on the effects of ESM usage on employee work performance but are unclear regarding the advantages of ESM usage through task characteristics. Through data collected from 175 workers who adopted ESM in the workplace, this study examines ESM usage and verifies whether and how ESM usage is positively associated with work performance through task interdependence. The moderating roles of work cooperation and information technology (IT) competency are also examined. The findings confirm the significant role of ESM usage in improving work performance through task interdependence. Moreover, IT competency strengthens the link between ESM usage and task interdependence as well as work cooperation. This study contributes to existing literature by suggesting the managerial benefits of ESM usage, task interdependence, and IT competency while clarifying their effects on work performance.
... According to several scholars [15,16], determining the effects of ESM usage in the workplace is necessary to advance the theory and management of ESM. Following this suggestion, we claim that task interdependence provides employees with goal-related specific information and procedures on how to efficiently use this information [17], making a difference in the creativity and performance of employees [18]. Task interdependence is the degree to which the interaction and coordination of employees are required to complete tasks in the workplace [19]. ...
This study investigates how the utilization of enterprise social media (ESM) influences the work performance of employees through task interdependence. ESM is an open and public platform that facilitates employee discussions on work-related issues. Most scholars in this area focus on the effects of ESM usage on employee work performance but are unclear regarding the advantages of ESM usage through task characteristics. Through data collected from 175 workers who adopted ESM in the workplace, this study examines ESM usage and verifies whether and how ESM usage is positively associated with work performance through task interdependence. The moderating roles of work cooperation and information technology (IT) competency are also examined. The findings confirm the significant role of ESM usage in improving work performance through task interdependence. Moreover, IT competency strengthens the link between ESM usage and task interdependence as well as work cooperation. This study contributes to existing literature by suggesting the managerial benefits of ESM usage, task interdependence, and IT competency while clarifying their effects on work performance.
... To this end, scholars can build upon the already impressive body of knowledge that Nijstad and colleagues have accumulated from developing the dual pathway to creativity model (see Nijstad et al., 2010 for a review). For example, they have investigated how numerous factors about individuals-such as personal need for structure (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014b), personal fear of invalidity (Rietzschel, De Dreu, & Nijstad, 2007), and positive or negative moods (De Dreu et al., 2008)-can moderate the effects of flexibility or persistence on creativity. However, most of these studies have been conducted under conditions that reflect the zone of deliberate problem solving, in which subjects are asked to solve problems within a single problem domain. ...
... Creativity research has emphasized that individuals faced with creative tasks initially generate conventional rather than original ideas (Ward, 1994), but the types of task instructions given to participants might strongly influence the outcome (Dennis et al., 1996;Volkema, 1983). For example, some task instructions enable participants to expand exploration of the possible solution space, while others restrict the desired solutions by reducing the viability of readily available solutions (Medeiros et al., 2014;Reitman, 1965;Rietzschel et al., 2014). ...
The existing literature offers conflicting advice regarding the types of task instructions that increase the quality of ideas during idea generation. Our research examines three types of task instructions: unbounded (participants are asked to generate any ideas they want), suggestive (participants are asked to propose ideas that improve current product benefits), and prohibitive (participants are asked to propose ideas that do not involve current product benefits). We explore the effectiveness of these three types of task instructions in a field study involving 6406 ideas from eYeka, a global crowdsourcing platform. As compared to unbounded task instructions, we find that suggestive task instructions are significantly related to lower idea originality, feasibility, and value. In addition, we find that idea originality and value are statistically equivalent for unbounded and prohibitive task instructions. Together, our results suggest that either unbounded or prohibitive task instructions should be used when crowdsourcing innovative ideas.
... In the higher-structure condition, generally speaking, those with high PNS displayed lower levels of product creativity than those with low PNS, although this effect was only significant for Problem B (Problems A and C approached significance for this main effect). This is contrary to the current literature, which asserts that high PNS participants should perform as well as low PNS participants on structured tasks (Rietzschel et al., 2014; see also Sagiv et al., 2010), however, this might be due to the over constraint in the higher-structure condition. It has been shown that high PNS individuals are more likely than low PNS individuals to think in stereotypical ways (Neuberg & Newsom, 1993;Schaller, Boyd, Yohannes, & O'Brien, 1995), and thus, if the higher-structure task encourages stereotypical thought because of over constraint, Running Head: Cognitive Structure, Task Structure, and Creativity in the Military those with a high PNS would be more likely to produce conventional and less creative responses. ...
... Personal need for structure refers to individual differences in the need that people tend to construct their world in a simple, clear, and structural manner (Neuberg & Newsom, 1993). Having a strong personal need for structure may drive individuals to seek ways to reduce unwanted social or non-social information that increases cognitive load (Neuberg & Newsom, 1993;Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014). Therefore, people are more likely to simplify past experiences and apply abstract mental representations to address events (e.g., values, scripts, prototypes, and stereotypes; Neuberg & Newsom, 1993) if they have a high personal need for structure. ...
How to promote employees to be proactive behaviourally is a significant issue in the literature because it would benefit organisations in several ways. Drawing on the acceptance and commitment model, we proposed a new antecedent, psychological flexibility that might contribute to employees' proactive work behaviour. Furthermore, we investigated how the contextual role of supervisor need for structure exhibits a cross-level moderating effect on the relationship between employee psychological flexibility at work and proactive work behaviour based on interactionism. Data from 241 full-time employees and their corresponding 45 managers indicated that employee psychological flexibility was positively associated with proactive work behaviour. More importantly, the supervisor need for structure played a moderating role, suggesting that employees would demonstrate greater proactive work behaviour especially when the supervisors have a high need for structure. Implications for psychological flexibility, proactivity, and person-situation interactional research are discussed.
... However, Medeiros, Watts, and Mumford (2016) argued that nearly all creative endeavors involve some form of constraint stemming from the market, organization, team, individual, or project. More recent research exploring these topics suggests that there may, in fact, be a positive relationship between structure, rules, and other constraints and creative performance (e.g., Litchfield, 2008;Medeiros, Partlow, & Mumford, 2014;Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014). Thus, the debate as to whether constraints positively or negatively influence creative performance persists, leading to a burgeoning area of research focusing on moderators of this relationship. ...
Although traditional conceptions of creativity argue for the benefits of a free and unconstrained creative process, recent research suggests that constraints may enhance creativity. However, the majority of research in this area has focused solely on idea generation, ignoring other key processes involved in creative problem solving. The present effort aimed to add to our understanding of the relationship between constraints and creativity by examining the role of constraints at the process level. Approximately 300 undergraduate students completed an experimental, restaurant-development task in which the type, number, and timing of constraints were manipulated. Measurements were taken during each process of the creative proposal development (i.e., problem identification, conceptual combination, idea generation, and idea evaluation) in addition to the final proposal. Results suggest that introducing constraints prior to problem identification improves creative performance on final proposals and that constraints foster idea evaluation. Findings regarding the effects of constraints on specific processes, as well as the implications of these results, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
... According to Neuberg & Newsom (1993), the PNS is associated with a preference for well-ordered situations and a chronic need to reduce the cognitive load of complex reality. A recent study (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis & Van Yperen, 2014) showed that the creativity of participants high in PNS improved when they were supplied with a structure or general plan to complete a creative task; however, a highly constraining structured task, which they choose actively to adopt when given free choice, limited their creative performance. The authors concluded that people high in PNS "may choose (and perhaps even actively seek out) situations that 'fit' their individual needs, regardless of the effects on their performance" (Rietzschel et al., 2014, p. 397). ...
As creativity has become a requisite skill for engineers and a part of their basic training, one of the challenges in engineering education is to supply students with a good understanding of creativity and development tools. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of these tools during a conceptual product design challenge. Students were introduced to creativity and development techniques and were provided the opportunity to choose and apply various methods during a hands-on project over 10 sessions distributed over 8 weeks. The analysis of the workbook used to record their progress showed individual differences in the creative process stages and performance as well as the nature of the tools used, when these tools were applied, and their effectiveness. The most creative students (C + ) came up with original unique concepts, employed significantly more tools than the less creative ones (C-) and sustained their effort to find ideas up to the very end of the project. Most students who used Analogies, Personas, mind mapping, purge, and/or reverse brainstorming produced unique ideas, a variety of concepts as well as technological innovations. Structured and rational methods, such as functional analysis were used by both groups C+ and C-. This structured approach resulted in a mere reformulation of the specifications’ brief that helped students to clarify the problem and to better understand the functions and the constraints and they felt “ready to get started”. As it was observed with TRIZ, FAST, SADT, APTE and IRAD, the majority (78%) of the students who applied functional analysis did not come up with any unique or original kitchen concepts. The findings are discussed in relation to the effectiveness of the creativity training to improve the students’ confidence in their creative potential, as well as the fit between the tools used and (a) the conceptual design challenge, (b) the phase of the creative process, and (c) individual preferences such as the need for structure and closure.
... According to Neuberg & Newsom (1993), the PNS is associated with a preference for well-ordered situations and a chronic need to reduce the cognitive load of complex reality. A recent study (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis & Van Yperen, 2014) showed that the creativity of participants high in PNS improved when they were supplied with a structure or general plan to complete a creative task; however, a highly constraining structured task, which they choose actively to adopt when given free choice, limited their creative performance. The authors concluded that people high in PNS "may choose (and perhaps even actively seek out) situations that 'fit' their individual needs, regardless of the effects on their performance" (Rietzschel et al., 2014, p. 397). ...
... Scholars have investigated whether possessing procedural information regarding a specific ideation task influences levels of creativity. Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, and Van Yperen (2014), ...
Is structure good or bad for creativity? When it comes to organizing information, management scholars have long advocated for a hierarchical information structure (information organized around higher-order categories as opposed to a flat information structure where there is no higher-order category) to reduce complexity of information processing and increase efficiency of work. However, a hierarchical information structure can be a double-edged sword that may reduce creativity, defined as novel and useful combination of existing information. This is because a hierarchical information structure might obstruct combining information from distal conceptual categories. Thus, the current research investigates whether information structure influences creativity. We theorize that a hierarchical information structure, compared to a flat information structure, will reduce creativity because it reduces cognitive flexibility. Three experiments using a sentence construction task and a LEGO task supported our prediction.
... Behaviors that are typical of ordered individuals, such as organizing the objects in their environment, making lists and scheduling their routines (Jackson et al., 2010), might reflect a different class of motivational tendencies with a more complex relation to goal-attainment: the need to structure one's environment to ultimately reduce the amount of information that needs to be processed (Costantini, Richetin, et al., 2015;Neuberg & Newsom, 1993). Experimental studies on creativity tasks have shown that if individuals who are higher in need for structure are given the choice, they prefer organized tasks, and if structured tasks are given to them, they improve their performance (Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & van Yperen, 2014). The need for structure has been encompassed in the broader construct of the need for closure (Kruglanski & Webster, 1996;C. ...
According to the network perspective, the coalescence of several personality characteristics into major personality dimensions results from a pattern of complex interactions that can be modeled as a network. We focused on one personality dimension, conscientiousness, and on its main facets. We administered a large battery of questionnaires to two samples (N=210 and N=230) and analyzed them by means of network analysis. The results showed that some elements of the network, such as general self-control and orientation toward the future, characterized all facets. These “shared” elements could be responsible for the facets to clump into one major dimension. Other elements of the network uniquely characterized different facets. These “unique” elements could underlie the main differences among conscientiousness facets.
... Although the current research seems to agree on the fact that bounded task instructions is helpful to guide the creativity of individuals, still, the adequate formulation of bounded task instructions requires research efforts (Marguc, Van Kleef, & Förster, 2015; Rietzschel, Slijkhuis, & Van Yperen, 2014). In this research, we propose to empirically test a new way to bound task instruction in online idea generation. ...
Online idea generation platforms are increasingly used to generate ideas of innovative products. Crafting the problem statement carefully is a key factor of success, however, the current literature remains limited concerning what kind of task instructions should be used to increase the quality of ideas in online idea generation. This research examines three different types of task instructions. The unbounded task instructions allowed participants generating the ideas they wish without any restriction. The suggestive task instructions indicate domains of ideas that are innovative. The prohibitive task instructions indicate domains of ideas that are not innovative. The impact of these three types of task instructions on creative outcomes is compared through an empirical study on eYeka, a global online idea generation platform. Based on logit models, we found that the task instructions have a significant impact on the creativity of participants. Our result shows that prohibitive task instructions enable the production of the most original ideas whereas suggestive task instructions favor the production of the most feasible and valuable ideas. Unbounded task instructions are mostly found to be inefficient. The implications for the management of online idea generation communities are discussed.
Creativity is usually seen as a good thing, but why? The Creativity Advantage first offers an overview of creativity studies with an emphasis on the little-discussed benefits of being creative. These include how creativity can lead to self-insight, help people heal, forge connections with others, inspire drive, and enable people to leave behind a meaningful legacy. Written in an engaging style and illustrated with interesting anecdotal material, this book offers a new perspective on creativity scholarship that can serve as an introduction to the field for newcomers or as a way to encourage new avenues for research.
Building on both the Human Resource Management (HRM) and the leadership literature, the aim of this dissertation was to enrich the scholarly and management literature on NWW in modern organizations by examining the relationships between perceived HRM
practices and leadership styles associated with NWW and employees’ workplace proactivity. Furthermore, we explored how this relationship is mediated by psychological empowerment including self-determination. Self-determination theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan, & Deci, 2017) and the closely related concepts of structural and
psychological empowerment (Spreitzer, 1995) were chosen as a lens through which to examine the core concepts explored in this thesis as all of which rely upon the autonomous motivation of employees to perform.
Creativity is an ability with psychological and developmental benefits. Creative levels are dynamic and oscillate throughout life, with a first major decline occurring at the age of 7 years old. However, creativity is an ability that can be nurtured if trained, with evidence suggesting an increase in this ability with the use of validated creativity training. Yet, creativity training for young children (aged between 6-9 years old) appears scarce. Additionally, existing training interventions resemble test-like formats and lack playful dynamics that could engage children in creative practices over time. This PhD project aimed at contributing to creativity stimulation in children by proposing to use social robots as intervention tools, thus adding playful and interactive dynamics to the training. Towards this goal, we conducted three studies in schools, summer camps, and museums for children, that contributed to the design, fabrication, and experimental testing of a robot whose purpose was to re-balance creative levels. Study 1 (n = 140) aimed at testing the effect of existing activities with robots in creativity and provided initial evidence of the positive potential of robots for creativity training. Study 2 (n = 134) aimed at including children as co-designers of the robot, ensuring the robot’s design meets children’s needs and requirements. Study 3 (n = 130) investigated the effectiveness of this robot as a tool for creativity training, showing the potential of robots as creativity intervention tools. In sum, this PhD showed that robots can have a positive effect on boosting the creativity of children. This places social robots as promising tools for psychological interventions.
Purpose
Organisations have widely adopted enterprise social media (ESM) to improve employees' task performance. This study aims to explore the mediating role of perceived task structure on the relationship between ESM usage and employee task performance. The authors investigate the moderating effects of perceived team diversity on the relationship between ESM usage and perceived task structure.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a questionnaire survey in China on 251 working professionals who use social media in their respective organisations.
Findings
Results showed that employees' perception of task structure considerably mediates the relationship between ESM usage and task performance. Findings also confirmed that perceived team diversity negatively affects the relationship between ESM usage and perceived task interdependence.
Research limitations/implications
Practitioners and/or managers should pay attention to the effect of ESM usage on employee's perceived task structure. Furthermore, they should focus on the level of team diversity when adopting ESM to enhance task performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the knowledge of perceived task structure in explaining the effect of ESM usage on task performance based on communication visibility theory. This work presents the relationship among ESM usage, perceived task structure, perceived team diversity and task performance. Moreover, this research enriches the literature on ESM usage by investigating the moderating roles of perceived team diversity whilst presenting the negative effects of perceived team diversity.
en This study draws on resource allocation theory to examine the relationship between job control and two kinds of job performance, namely employee creativity and in‐role performance, as well as to investigate whether supervisor encouragement of creativity moderates these two potentially nonlinear relationships. To test the proposed model, we collected data from 234 employees in Indonesia. The results show that job control has an inverted U‐shaped relationship with employee creativity, but a U‐shaped relationship with in‐role performance. Supervisor encouragement of creativity moderates both relationships, such that the control–creativity relationship becomes U‐shaped, while the control–in‐role performance relationship becomes inverted U‐shaped when supervisor encouragement of creativity is high. Implications for managers on how to provide resources to employees are discussed.
Résumé
fr Cette étude s'appuie sur la théorie de l'allocation des ressources pour examiner la relation entre le contrôle du travail et deux types de performance professionnelle, à savoir la créativité des employés et la performance dans le rôle, et pour déterminer dans quelle mesure l'encouragement de la créativité par le superviseur modère ces deux relations potentiellement non linéaires. Pour tester le modèle proposé, nous avons recueilli des données auprès de 234 employés en Indonésie. Les résultats montrent que le contrôle du travail a une relation en forme de U inversé avec la créativité des employés, mais une relation en forme de U avec la performance dans le rôle. L'encouragement de la créativité par le superviseur modère les deux relations, de sorte que la relation contrôle/créativité devient en forme de U, tandis que la relation contrôle/performance dans le rôle devient en forme de U inversé lorsque l'encouragement de la créativité par le superviseur est élevé. L'article s'achève par une analyse des implications sur l'allocation des ressources aux employés par les gestionnaires.
Despite the important influence of team reflexivity on new product development (NPD) success, a thorough analysis of its key antecedents, mediators, and moderators is lacking in the literature. Using cognitive fit theory, knowledge management perspective, justice theory, and self-verification theory, this study proposed that existing knowledge, task familiarity, and procedural justice are three of the vital factors that lead to NPD success by encouraging team reflexivity. This study also examined the effects of team conflict on team reflexivity and NPD success. Survey data were collected from 254 NPD team members, and these data were then analyzed using the PROCESS Macro from SPSS and the partial least squares (PLS) approach. The results of this study showed that the three aforementioned factors play a significant role in NPD success. The importance of team conflict was then examined, and the results showed that when relationship conflict is higher, the effect of team reflexivity on NPD success tends to be weaker.
In two studies, we examined the influence of need for closure (NFC), and motivational states of challenge and threat on creativity. NFC is defined as a desire for quick and unambiguous answers to questions and an aversion to uncertainty. Creativity tasks usually elicit uncertainty; we predicted that high (vs. low) NFC people would decline in creativity due to the distress caused by creativity tasks. We argued that the appraisal of the creativity task as challenge would increase creative performance while appraising the same as threat would decrease creativity. We suggested, however, that high NFC individuals would show low creativity regardless of the induced state of threat or challenge, experiencing constant distress associated with creativity tasks. However, low NFC individuals would be more creative in a challenge state; however in the threat condition, they would show less creativity. In Study 1, challenge and threat were induced using mindset manipulations and in Study 2, challenge and threat states were invoked by implementing false feedback of success and failure and perceived resource gain or loss. The manipulations were followed by the Alternative Uses Brick task to measure creativity. Results confirmed the assumptions and were discussed in the context of need for closure theory.
Dictionary.com defines innovation as the “introduction of new things or methods” and it lists “tradition” as one of its antonyms. For those of us interested in ape behavior and cognition, this poses an interesting puzzle. Chimpanzees and orangutans are well known for their social traditions which persist over generations and yet, they have been traditionally considered some of the most innovative creatures in the planet. Can one be tradition-bound and yet a naturally-born innovator?
As part of process redesign initiatives, substantial time is spent on the systematic description and analysis of the as-is process. By contrast, to-be scenarios are often generated in a less rigorous way. Only one or a few workshops are organized for this purpose, which rely on the use of techniques that are susceptible to bias and incompleteness, e.g. brainstorming. In this paper, we evaluate a new technique for generating process improvement ideas: the RePro (Rethinking of Processes) technique. Its backbone is formed by process improvement principles that guide practitioners in a systematic and comprehensive exploration of the solution space. An experiment was conducted to compare the performance of the RePro technique with traditional brainstorming. Results confirm the potential for using a more advanced technique during process redesign workshops, but also show that the way such a technique is used strongly affects its performance.
This paper outlines an analysis of how the deconstruction of organizational, management control and performance management structures affect performances and how workers make sense of enhanced efforts and practices of creativity, in a situation when facing a certainty of job loss as of the closedown of the organization. In this paper we have shown that the deconstruction of structures generate positive performance outcomes, and that such relation is being mediated by workers identity. We have also shown that identity work under a process of organizational closedown generate certain creativity. By doing so, this paper contributes to the literature on creativity and deconstruction by developing an emergent model where workers identity mediates formal structures relation to performance. This paper contributes to literature on closedowns by extending its analytical and theoretical domains, proving alternative, yet complementary and mediating explanations to the causes of drivers to enhanced performances during the process of closedown.
Although creativity is commonly associated with autonomy and the absence of rules or external constraints, reality is more complex. In this review paper, I explain that autonomy, although important, can imply complexity, and hence can inhibit both intrinsic motivation and creative performance. Furthermore, I show that the relation between autonomy (or the lack thereof) and motivation and creativity depends on individual differences. External constraints and structure can, for some people, enhance motivation and creativity. In doing so, however, it is important that people are given concrete information about relevant strategies, rather than about desired outcomes
This study adopted an interactional approach to understanding how 2 of the Five-Factor traits, openness to experience and conscientiousness, are related to creative behavior in the workplace. Openness to experience is theorized to result in high levels of creative behavior and conscientiousness is theorized to result in low levels of creative behavior when the situation allows for the manifestation of the trait influences. More specifically, the authors hypothesized that openness to experience would result in high levels of creative behavior if feedback valence were positive and job holders were presented with a heuristic task that allowed them to be creative. The authors also hypothesized that conscientiousness would result in low levels of creative behavior if supervisors engaged in close monitoring and coworkers were unsupportive. The authors tested their hypotheses in a sample of office workers, and 5 out of the 6 hypotheses were supported.
This paper reports on a series of experiments which were conducted to test the hypothesis that design fixation, defined as a blind adherence to a set of ideas or concepts limiting the output of conceptual design, is a measurable barrier in the conceptual design process. The results of the experiments clearly demonstrate the existence of design fixation. The paper related issues such as the nature of the phenomenon, some experimental issues which arise in such investigations, and directions for future research.
New product ideation might be improved by identifying and applying certain well-defined schemes derived from an historical analysis of product-based trends, termed "templates." These templates might contribute to the understanding and prediction of new product emergence. The authors derive templates in a study that maps the evolution of product changes by adapting a set of intrinsic operations originally designed to uncover hidden logical patterns in technological inventions. They find that the majority of new product versions can be accounted for by as few as five templates. The authors define the five templates and show that they derive from six elementary (first principle) operators. A procedure for using the dominant template, termed "Attribute Dependency," is outlined, followed by a report of two experiments examining its usefulness in the context of product ideation.
Prototypicality is an important factor for judgments and evaluations of group members
and leadership selection. We tested whether these prototypicality perceptions vary as a
function of individual differences in cognitive processing preferences. Participants’
need for a structured, stable environment was measured before we independently
manipulated the group prototypicality of a leadership candidate. Results revealed that
participants’ preference for prototypical leaders, and dislike for nonprototypical leaders,
was accentuated for those who preferred structured, stable environments. Participants
tolerant of less cognitive structure did not show this bias for prototypical leaders
and against nonprototypical leaders. These findings suggest that individual differences
in cognitive processing tendencies may moderate how group prototypicality is perceived
and used, and can consequently affect the type of leaders people prefer.
Research has shown that evaluation can have negative effects when it is perceived as controlling rather than informational. We hypothesized that Personal Need for Structure (PNS) would moderate the effects of (perceptions of) evaluative situations. Specifically, we expected that informational evaluative situations would be associated with higher motivation and higher creative performance than controlling evaluative situations, but only when PNS is low. In a field study (N = 53) and an experiment (N = 72), we showed consistently across samples, methods, and outcomes that the positive effects ofinformational evaluation only existed for individuals who were low in PNS. These findings support the reasoning that high PNS individuals tend to welcome any type of feedback because of its disambiguating potential.
We propose that organizations use a new framework of workday design to enhance the creativity of today's chronically overworked professionals. Although insights from creativity research have been integrated into models of work design to increase the stimulants of creativity (e.g., intrinsic motivation), this has not led to work design models that have effectively reduced the obstacles to creativity (e.g., workload pressures). As a consequence, creative output among professionals in high-workload contexts remains disappointing. In response, we offer a framework of work design that focuses on the design of entire workdays rather than the typical focus on designing either specific tasks or very broad job descriptions (e.g., as the job characteristics model in Hackman et al. 1975). Furthermore, we introduce the concept of “mindless” work (i.e., work that is low in both cognitive difficulty and performance pressures) as an integral part of this framework. We suggest that to enhance creativity among chronically overworked professionals, workdays should be designed to alternate between bouts of cognitively challenging and high-pressure work (as suggested in the original model by Hackman et al. 1975), and bouts of mindless work (as defined in this paper). We discuss the implications of our framework for theories of work design and creativity.
In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
A theoretical framework for understanding creativity in a complex social setting, such as an organization, is developed. Organizational creativity is defined as the creation of a valuable, useful new product, service, idea, procedure, or process by individuals working together in a complex social system. The starting point for the theoretical development is provided by the interactionist model of creative behavior developed by Woodman and Schoenfeldt (1989). This model and supporting literature on creative behavior and organizational innovation are used to develop an interactional framework for organizational creativity. The theoretical framework is summarized by 3 propositions that can effectively guide the development of testable hypotheses.
Test scores of divergent thinking obtained between 1959 and 1972 were correlated with a variety of personality measures administered since 1980. In this sample of 268 men, divergent thinking was consistently associated with self-reports and ratings of openness to experience, but not with neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, or conscientiousness. Both divergent thinking and openness were also modestly correlated with Gough's (1979) empirically derived Creative Personality Scale. Several other personality variables mentioned in the literature were also examined; those that were associated with divergent thinking were also generally correlated with openness. These data suggest that creativity is particularly related to the personality domain of openness to experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Individual differences in the desire for simple structure may influence how people understand, experience, and interact with their worlds. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that the Personal Need for Structure (PNS) scale (M. Thompson, M. Naccarato, and K. Parker, 1989) possesses sufficient reliability and convergent and discriminant validity. In Studies 3–5, Ss high in PNS were especially likely to organize social and nonsocial information in less complex ways, stereotype others, and complete their research requirements on time. These data suggest that people differ in their chronic desire for simple structure and that this difference can have important social–cognitive and behavioral implications. A consideration of chronic information-processing motives may facilitate the theoretical integration of social cognition, affect, motivation, and personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Three experiments were performed to test Smith, Ward, and Schumacher’s (1993) conformity hypothesis— that people’s ideas will
conform to examples they are shown in a creative generation task. Conformity was observed in all three experiments; participants
tended to incorporate critical features of experimenter-provided examples. However, examination of total output, elaborateness
of design, and the noncritical features did not confirm that the conformity effect constrained creative output in any of the
three experiments. Increasing the number of examples increased the conformity effect (Experiment 1). Examples that covaried
features that are naturally uncorrelated in the real world led to a greater subjective rating of creativity (Experiment 2).
A delay between presentation and test increased conformity (Experiment 3), just as models of inadvertent plagiarism would
predict. The explanatory power of theoretical accounts such as activation, retrieval blocking, structured imagination, and
category abstraction are evaluated.
Compared with approach motivation, avoidance motivation has often been related to reduced creativity because it evokes a relatively inflexible processing style. This finding seems inconsistent with the dual pathway to creativity model, which poses that both flexible and persistent processing styles can result in creative output. Reconciling these inconsistencies, the authors hypothesized that avoidance-motivated individuals are not unable to be creative, but they have to compensate for their inflexible processing style by effortful and controlled processing. Results of 5 experiments revealed that when individuals are avoidance motivated, they can be as creative as when they are approach motivated, but only when creativity is functional for goal achievement, motivating them to exert the extra effort (Experiments 1-4). The authors found that approach motivation was associated with cognitive flexibility and avoidance motivation with cognitive persistence (Experiment 1), that creative tasks are perceived to be more difficult by avoidance- than by approach-motivated individuals, and that avoidance-motivated individuals felt more depleted after creative performance (Experiment 2a, 2b, and 3). Finally, creative performance of avoidance-motivated individuals suffered more from a load on working memory (Study 4). The present results suggest that for people focusing on avoiding negative outcomes, creative performance is difficult and depleting, and they only pay these high cognitive costs when creativity helps achieving their goals.
The effects of idea sharing on cognitive processes and performance were assessed in an idea exposure paradigm. Participants generated ideas while being exposed to stimulus ideas that were semantically homogeneous or diverse, and were offered in an organized or a random sequence. As compared to a control condition, participants generated more diverse ideas when exposed to ideas from a wide range of semantic categories, and they generated more ideas per category when exposed to many ideas from only a few categories. The semantic organization of ideas was higher when participants were exposed to ideas that were organized in semantic clusters than when participants were exposed to unorganized ideas. Idea exposure had positive effects in general, because it reduced response latencies for category changes. Implications for information processing in groups are discussed.
There are many ways in which a GSS can be used to support group brainstorming. This paper reports the results of an experiment that manipulated task structure and time structure. Groups electronically brainstormed on intact tasks (where all parts of the task were presented to the groups). The time periods in which groups worked were either one 30-minut time period or three 10-minute time periods, separated by two-minute breaks. Groups in the partitioned task treatment generated 40% more ideas, but there were no time effects. These differences are attributed to the ability of the partitioined task to refocus members' attention more evenly across the entire solution space.
One aspect of brainstorming that has received little research attention is how the brainstorming problem should be presented to the group, whether as one all-encompassing question or as a series of separate questions each focsusing on one aspect of the problem. This paper reports the results of two experiments in which subjects (MBAs in the first, senior executives in the second) electronically brainstormed on intact problems (where all parts of the problem were presented simultaneously) or on decomposed problems (where three subcategories of the problem were sequentially posed to the groups). In both experiments, groups using the decomposed process generated 60% more ideas. We attribute these differences to the ability of time constraints to increase the rate of idea generation, and the ability of problem decomposition to refocus members' attention more evenly across the entire problem.
G*Power is a free power analysis program for a variety of statistical tests. We present extensions and improvements of the version introduced by Faul, Erdfelder, Lang, and Buchner (2007) in the domain of correlation and regression analyses. In the new version, we have added procedures to analyze the power of tests based on (1) single-sample tetrachoric correlations, (2) comparisons of dependent correlations, (3) bivariate linear regression, (4) multiple linear regression based on the random predictor model, (5) logistic regression, and (6) Poisson regression. We describe these new features and provide a brief introduction to their scope and handling.
Extra work on unsolved problems may lead to more improvement if the new work is delayed rather than undertaken immediately after initial solution attempts. Such a result constitutes incubation in problem solving. "Unconscious work" on a problem, commonly assumed to be responsible for incubation effects, may not be necessary to observe the phenomenon. We hypothesize that fixation, a block to successful problem solving, may develop during initial solution attempts and persist, interfering with immediate extra work more than with delayed extra work. Five experiments are reported in which fixation was induced to prevent optimal performance on the initial test of Remote Associates Test (RAT) problems (e.g., Mednick, 1962). After the fixation manipulation in three of the experiments, the effects of incubation intervals were examined by retesting the fixated problems. Both fixation (poorer initial problem-solving performance) and incubation (more improvement after a delayed retest than an immediate retest) were found in all the experiments which tested for the effects. In Experiments 1, 2, and 3, misleading distractors were presented alongside the RAT problems during the initial test of the problems to cause fixation. In Experiment 4, a block of paired associates--pairing the RAT words with the misleading distractors prior to problem solving--successfully induced fixation, indicating that the distractors affected memory retrieval. In Experiment 5, a trial-by-trial technique allowed fixation and incubation to be induced and tested separately for each item. All of our findings of incubation effects appear to have depended upon the initial induction of fixation. Although the experiments may not be representative of all naturally occurring cases of incubation, they provide a methodology for the study of fixation and incubation effects in problem solving in the laboratory.
Contributions to this volume report accumulated knowledge and theory with respect to the effects of time pressure on judgment. This chapter deals particularly with social judgments, that is, our judgments and evaluations of other people. We also introduce an individual difference variable in the study of time pressure, and embed the effects of pressure in a general framework of social judgment formation.
This article introduces an individual-difference measure of the need for cognitive closure. As a dispositional construct, the need for cognitive closure is presently treated as a latent variable manifested through several different aspects, namely, desire for predictability, preference for order and structure, discomfort with ambiguity, decisiveness, and close-mindedness. This article presents psychometric work on the measure as well as several validation studies including (a) a «known-groups» discrimination between populations assumed to differ in their need for closure, (b) discriminant and convergent validation with respect to related personality measures, and (c) replication of effects obtained with situational inductions of the need for closure
Individual differences in the desire for simple structure may influence how people understand, experience, and interact with their worlds. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that the Personal Need for Structure (PNS) scale (M. Thompson, M. Naccarato, & K. Parker, 1989,1992) possesses sufficient reliability and convergent and discriminant validity In Studies 3-5, Ss high in PNS were especially likely to organize social and nonsocial information in less complex ways, stereotype others, and complete their research requirements on time. These data suggest that people differ in their chronic desire for simple structure and that this difference can have important social-cognitive and behavioral implications. A consideration of chronic information-processing motives may facilitate the theoretical integration of social cognition, affect, motivation, and personality
In this article we develop a theoretical framework for understanding creativity in complex social settings. We define organizational creativity as the creation of a valuable, useful new product, service, idea, procedure, or process by individuals working together in a complex social system. The starting point for our theoretical development is provided by the interactionist model of creative behavior developed by Woodman and Schoenfeldt (1989). This model and supporting literature on creative behavior and organizational innovation are used to develop an interactional framework for organizational creativity. The theoretical framework is summarized by three propositions that can effectively guide the development of testable hypotheses.
In this article, we argue and demonstrate that employees' Personal Need for Structure (PNS) moderates the negative effects of close monitoring on job satisfaction, intrinsic work motivation, and innovative job performance (as rated by their supervisors). In a field study (N=295), we found that employees low in PNS reacted unfavourably to close monitoring, whereas employees high in PNS reacted more favourably to close monitoring. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the negative effect of close monitoring on job satisfaction and intrinsic work motivation among low PNS employees can be explained by a reduction of perceived autonomy. In contrast, the positive effects of close monitoring on these favourable outcomes among high PNS employees were associated with increased role clarity.
The structure of communication assignments is an aspect of the class environment almost completely within the control of the educator, yet it is often overlooked as an influence on apprehensive and non‐apprehensive students. Although there are indications that structured tasks are helpful to apprehensive students, less attention has been directed toward potential debilitative effects of structure on non‐apprehensive students. The results of this study suggest an interaction between trait CA and task structure. Suggestions for structure‐added and structure‐reduced communication assignments are outlined to enhance the learning environment of students with varying levels of communication apprehension.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating role of the emphasis placed by individuals on scheduling of activities on the relationship between task structure and work outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction and job involvement).
Design/methodology/approach
– Data were collected using surveys from 387 employees working in US‐based organizations. Regression analyses were used to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
– The results of the study show that for individuals who place high emphasis on scheduling of work and non‐work activities, the negative impact of highly structured tasks was weaker than for individuals who do not emphasize scheduling of activities. The results also provide support for the hypotheses concerning the direct relationships between task structure and work outcomes.
Originality/value
– Past research has largely ignored the role of individual differences in examining task structure. By providing empirical support for the moderating role of emphasis on scheduling on the task structure outcome relationships, this study not only paves the way for future studies but also emphasizes the importance of incorporating the role of time in examining task structure.
G*Power (Erdfelder, Faul, & Buchner, 1996) was designed as a general stand-alone power analysis program for statistical tests commonly used in social and behavioral research. G*Power 3 is a major extension of, and improvement over, the previous versions. It runs on widely used computer platforms (i.e., Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X 10.4) and covers many different statistical tests of the t, F, and chi2 test families. In addition, it includes power analyses for z tests and some exact tests. G*Power 3 provides improved effect size calculators and graphic options, supports both distribution-based and design-based input modes, and offers all types of power analyses in which users might be interested. Like its predecessors, G*Power 3 is free.
ABSTRACT This study examines ,the relationship between creativity and tolerance of ambiguity. Participants were parents and their adolescent children. Three measures ofcreativity were used: adivergent thinking task, a story-writing task and a self-evaluation of creative attitudes and behavior. Participants completed,two self-report measures,of tolerance of ambiguity: the short version of the “Measurement of Ambiguity Tolerance” (Norton, 1975; Zenasni & Lubart, 2001) and the “Behaviour Scale of Tolerance/Intolerance for Ambiguity” (Stoycheva, 1998, 2003). Tolerance of ambiguity ,was significantly and positively related to creativity. Creativity of parents was related to their adolescents’ creativity. However, parents’ tolerance of ambiguity was not related to adolescents’ tolerance of ambiguity or creativity.
This study sought to determine the impact of 2 differing instructional approaches on creative problem-solving performance. Eighty-two college students completed a novel structure-building task after receiving algorithmic instruction (providing a rote, step-by-step algorithm for building a sample structure), heuristic instruction (demonstrating the same techniques in a more flexible form), or no instruction. All participants viewed the same sample structure before beginning the task. It was hypothesized that algorithmically instructed students would exhibit less exploratory behavior and lower levels of creativity than students receiving heuristic instruction. No specific hypotheses were made concerning the problem-solving creativity of students in the no-instruction condition. Results suggest that the type of instruction that students received influenced their perceptions of the task, their behaviors during the task, and their final solution to the structure problem. Students receiving algorithmic instruction exhibited greater confidence and speed when building their structures than did other students. However, they were significantly less likely to engage in exploratory behavior or to deviate from the sample structure than were students receiving heuristic instruction. Although there was no main effect of instruction condition on the judge-rated creativity of these structures, a significant interaction between instruction type and participants' attempts to replicate the sample structure was predictive of the structure's creativity. Theoretical and practical implications of these and other results are discussed.
The relationship between dispositional need for cognitive closure (NFC) and the use of heuristics in negotiation was investigated. In Study 1 (N = 147), negotiators with high NFC were more influenced by focal points when setting limits and making concessions than were negotiators with low NFC. In Study 2 (N = 74), negotiators with high NFC were more influenced by stereotypic information when making concessions than were negotiators with low NFC. Study 3 examined whether results could be attributed to a correlation between NFC and social value orientation the dispositional tendency to approach the negotation in a prosocial or more selfish way. In three different samples, no such relationship was found. The use of heuristics in negotiation is moderated by need for cognitive closure, and this effect is most likely due to the fact that negotiators with low need for closure are less likely to seize and freeze on information.
Three constructive replications were executed to test the hypotheses that primary effects in impression formation are more pronounced when the individual feels (1) high versus low need for cognitive structure and (2) low versus high fear of invalidity. The experiments differed partially among themselves in the particular operational definitions of the structure and validity needs. In the first experiment need for structure was manipulated via demands for unidimensional (hence, global and undifferentiated) versus multidimensional judgments; and the fear of invalidity, via potential costs to the target person of subject's judgmental mistake. In the second experiment fear of invalidity was manipulated as in the first experiment and need for structure, via degrees of time pressure. In the third experiment need for structure was manipulated as in the first experiment and fear of invalidity, via degrees of evaluation apprehension. The research hypotheses were strongly confirmed in all three experiments. These results crossvalidate the findings of Kruglanski and Freund (1983) in which need for structure was operationalized via time pressure, and fear of invalidity, via evaluation apprehension.
Examined 2 models of person × situation interactions using 42 undergraduates. The 1st model (H. A. Murray, 1938) predicts that there is a relation between personality and the situations people naturally choose to be in; the 2nd model (H. J. Eysenck, 1952) predicts that when there is congruence between the situation and personality, a person will experience more positive and less negative affect. These models were investigated by using mood and activity reports gathered on 3,512 occasions sampled randomly from Ss' everyday lives. Situational dimensions were related to some but not all personality variables investigated. Need for order predicted choice of typical situations, and extraversion correlated with time spent recreating socially. However, it was found that Ss did not spend more time in those settings in which they experienced more positive emotions nor less time in those situations in which they experienced more negative affect. In terms of the affect–congruence model, several predicted relations were found, but several others did not reach significance. The failure of the affect–congruence model to be consistently supported was probably because Ss' affect was relatively consistent across situations. Results suggest that although some theoretically meaningful person × situation interactions do occur, they are not necessarily strong or easily predictable. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
An explanation of the effects of leader behavior on subordinate satisfaction, motivation, and performance is presented. The explanation is derived from a path-goal theory of motivation. Dimensions of leader behavior such as leader initiating structure, consideration, authoritarianism, hierarchical influence, and closeness of supervision are analyzed in terms of path-goal variables such as valence and instrumentality. The theory specifies some of the situational moderators on which the effects of specific leader behaviors are contingent. A set of general propositions are advanced which integrate and explain earlier fragmentary research findings. Several specific predictions are made to illustrate how the general propositions can be operationalized. The usefulness of the theory is demonstrated by showing how several seemingly unrelated prior research findings could have been deduced from its general propositions and by applying it to reconcile what appear to be contradictory findings from prior studies. Results of two empirical studies are reported that provide support for seven of eight hypotheses derived directly from the general propositions of the theory. A third study designed to test three of the original eight hypotheses is also reported. Two of these three hypotheses are successfully replicated. In the light of these results and the integrative power of the theory, it is argued that the theory shows promise and should be further tested with experimental as well as correlational methods.
The dual pathway to creativity model argues that creativity—the generation of original and appropriate ideas—is a function of cognitive flexibility and cognitive persistence, and that dispositional or situational variables may influence creativity either through their effects on flexibility, on persistence, or both. This model is tested in a number of studies in which participants performed creative ideation tasks. We review work showing that cognitive flexibility, operationalised as the number of content categories surveyed, directly relates to idea originality, but that originality can also be achieved by exploring a few content categories in great depth (i.e., persistence). We also show that a global processing mode is associated with cognitive flexibility, but only leads to high originality in tasks that capitalise on cognitive flexibility. We finally show that activating positive mood states enhance creativity because they stimulate flexibility, while activating negative mood states can enhance creativity because they stimulate persistence. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Three experiments examined the relationship between approaches to a creative generation task and the novelty of the resulting products. Participants were given the task of imagining life on other planets and they received instructions intended to encourage them to formulate the task in either very specific ways (e.g., thinking of specific Earth animals) or more abstract ways (e.g., thinking of environmental conditions and general survival needs). The latter instructions led to more novel creations. The results are discussed in terms of the malleability of people's approaches to creative generation, the role of problem formulation and the link between abstraction and novelty.
78 students completed the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (Form S), the 1975 Barron-Welsh Art Scale, and 3 estimates of their own creativity. Multiple regressions showed openness-to-experience predicted all 3 self-estimates of creativity but not the actual creativity score. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The leader is an individual in the group, who directs and coordinates task-relevant group activities, or who, in the absence of a designated leader, automatically performs these functions in the group. This chapter provides an overview of the framework for the understanding of factors which determine a leader's personality attributes and its impact on group performance, the development of integrative model, and empirical support for the model. A leader is either appointed by a representative of the larger organization of which the group is a part; or is elected by the group; or in case there is neither an elected nor an appointed leader, he can be identified as most influential on task-relevant questions of a sociometric preference questionnaire. The leader and member abilities are among the most important predictors of group performance, and a high correlation between the leader's ability score and the group's performance presumably reflects the degree of leader influence over the task itself. The negative correlations suggest that the leader's influence, or his contribution to the task is minimal. A leader can be trained to modify these attitudes, but considerable effort might be required on the part of many individuals to make them. The leader's task functions and his therapeutic attitudes are highly speculative, and extensive future research is required to elucidate the role, which these therapeutic attitudes play in the group process.
This article presents a comprehensive definition and conceptual model of person-organization fit that incorporates supplementary as well as complementary perspectives on fit. To increase the precision of the construct's definition, it is also distinguished from other forms of environmental compatibility, silch as person-group and person-vocation fit. Once defined, commensurate measurement as it relates to supplementary and complementary fit is discussed and recommendations are offered regarding the necessity of its use. A distinction is made between the direct measurement of perceived fit and the indirect measurement of actual person-organization fit, using both cross- and individual-level techniques, and the debate regarding differences scores is reviewed. These definitional and measurement issues frame a review of the existing literature, as well as provide the basis for specific research propositions and suggestions for managerial applications.
ABSTRACT This research investigated the association of two individual difference moderators of psychological phenomena with the time of semester students choose to participate in experiments. The Personal Need for Structure (PNS) scale and the Stein Self-Description Questionnaire were administered to the students in an introductory psychology class at the beginning of a university semester. Students' responses on these measures were related to their chosen dates of required participation in psychological research. Higher levels of PNS predicted earlier experiment participation and quicker completion of the experiment requirement once started. Personality types distinguished by the Stein Self-Description Questionnaire revealed that those indifferent or hostile to authority participate in experiments later in the semester than do the curious or more conforming types. Implications of these findings for external validity of social psychological research at different points in the semester are discussed
This research investigates how creativity is influenced by externally imposed structure (how structured the task is), internal, cognitively produced, structure (how structured the individuals' cognitive style is), and the interaction between these two factors. Reviewing past literature, we find a contradiction. Studies that focused on the situational perspective found that externally imposed structure increases creativity. In contrast, studies that focused on the individual found that systematic (structured) cognitive style decreases creativity. In two empirical studies we investigated this seeming contradiction. We focused on two aspects of externally imposed structure: The construction of the task (Study 1) and the instructions provided (Study 2). The findings of both studies revealed that creativity was higher under structured conditions. We also show that intuitive individuals are more creative than systematic individuals, but mainly under free conditions, where structure is not externally imposed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This meta-analysis investigated the relationships between person–job (PJ), person–organization (PO), person–group, and person–supervisor fit with preentry (applicant attraction, job acceptance, intent to hire, job offer) and postentry individual-level criteria (attitudes, performance, withdrawal behaviors, strain, tenure). A search of published articles, conference presentations, dissertations, and working papers yielded 172 usable studies with 836 effect sizes. Nearly all of the credibility intervals did not include 0, indicating the broad generalizability of the relationships across situations. Various ways in which fit was conceptualized and measured, as well as issues of study design, were examined as moderators to these relationships in studies of PJ and PO fit. Interrelationships between the various types of fit are also meta-analyzed. 25 studies using polynomial regression as an analytic technique are reviewed separately, because of their unique approach to assessing fit. Broad themes emerging from the results are discussed to generate the implications for future research on fit.