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Creativity and unethicality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Abstract
A growing line of research suggests that creativity and unethicality are intrinsically related to one another. However, the idea has been challenged both by theoretical arguments and by heterogeneous empirical findings. In the present work, we review the literature to reconcile seemingly opposed theoretical views on the relationship between creativity and unethicality. We then conduct a meta-analysis to clear up confusion about heterogeneous empirical findings in the literature (k = 36, N = 6783). We find a weak positive correlation between the 2 constructs (r = .09, 95% confidence interval [.01, .17], t = 2.24, p < .05). Consistent with social desirability response bias theory (Randall & Fernandes, 1991), we find that the correlation is significant in studies that rely upon objective measures of unethicality—that is, behavioral measures or other-reports—but not in studies that rely upon self-reports of unethicality. Altogether, our work suggests that creativity and unethicality are positively related as predicted by theory, and that some studies have failed at finding it because they used self-reports to assess unethicality rather than objective measures. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.
... Despite varied studies in the area, the relationship between morality and creativity seems muddy. Two review papers, only a year apart, found contradictory results: one concluding that creativity and morality are positively related (Shen et al., 2019) and the other identifying a weak positive relationship between creativity and unethicality (Storme et al., 2020). However, the latter paper made a distinction between studies that used objective (behavioral, other reports) or subjective self-reports of dishonesty; as social desirability can contaminate results in the morality-creativity space, the overall positive relationship was driven by studies using objective measures of unethicality, such as observations of dishonest behavior. ...
Dark creativity comprises novel actions that lead to deliberate or unintentional harm. Although recent research has begun examining the construct more widely, there exist several gaps in scholarship. One such area is the influence, association, and role of affective factors in determining whether and to what extent an entity engages in dark creativity. After introducing concepts like negative and malevolent creativity, this chapter reviews the existing literature on the link between affective factors and creativity. Thereafter, the features of dark personality traits, like psychopathy, are examined with reference to affective considerations such as low empathy in producing original harm. Owing to the relationship between dark creativity and moral concerns, we also examine how moral emotions like guilt and shame (or lack thereof) may contribute to an understanding of such creativity. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research and avenues for interdisciplinary studies.
... Although lying belongs to the component of malevolent creativity (Hao et al., 2016), it cannot represent malevolent creativity as it only reflects immoral behavior. Regarding morality, meta-analysis indicates that creativity is positively related to immorality and dark personality (Lebuda et al., 2021;Storme et al., 2021). The moral foundation and the positive correlation between dark personality and creativity are mainly reflected in malevolent creativity (Kapoor and Kaufman, 2021). ...
The current study aims to investigate the influence of positive and negative moral emotions (gratitude and guilt) on malevolent creativity by exploring the potential mediation role of valence and prosocial behavior. Using autobiographical recall, three groups of participants developed gratitude, guilt, or neutral emotion, respectively, and then their prosocial behavior and malevolent creativity performance were compared. Results showed that compared with the neutral condition, individuals in the gratitude state experienced more positive emotions with less malevolent creative ideas, but the positive valence pathway had a positive effect on malevolent creativity, indicating the promoting effect of positive emotion on creativity. By contrast, individuals in the guilt state experienced more negative emotions, which result in less malevolent creativity. Gratitude and guilt promoted prosocial behaviors, which did not mediate the effect of gratitude or guilt on malevolent creativity. In short, the results indicate that the positive and negative moral emotions (gratitude and guilt) inhibit malevolent creativity, which is mediated by valence, instead of prosocial behavior.
... In psychology, review studies focused on the relationship between mental progress and creativity (e.g. Puryear et al., 2017;Storme et al., 2021). Some studies reviewed the relationships between substance usage and individual creativity in behavioral science. ...
Employee creativity has become an essential concept in tourism and hospitality literature in the last two decades. Nevertheless, empirical evidence on creativity has developed into a fragmented area of research with a variety of definitions and conceptual lenses. The current study suggests that this discrepancy of extant research impedes theoretical and empirical advancement. This study systematically reviews studies in the tourism and hospitality field to strengthen future work on employee creativity. The study results show that leadership is the most powerful predating and moderating factor in employee creativity. The results also show that positive organizational culture and climate factors greatly influence employee creativity. Finally, this study proposes a combined framework of creative qualities, which can be used as a managerial tool in tourism and hospitality, and other similar service-oriented industries.
... Other research has found that justifying unethical decisions was easier for creative individuals in ambiguous ethical situations and when primed to be creative (Mai et al., 2015), perhaps owing to cognitive and moral flexibilities. Similarly, research has begun examining the links between creativity, morality, and unethicality (Shen et al., 2019;Storme et al., 2020), with inconclusive findings. A useful framework to study the intersection of dark creativity and morality is the Moral Foundations Theory (MFT; Graham et al., 2013). ...
The dark side of creativity entails using original thought to meet a selfish, negative, or evil goal, with or without the deliberate intent to harm others. Recent empirical advances have studied the behavioral correlates of such creativity, including associations with aggression, deception, and subclinical psychopathy. The time, therefore, seems apt to propose a theoretical framework for dark creativity’s development and manifestation. This paper outlines the AMORAL model of dark creativity, which traces a creative action from its Antecedents to Mechanisms and Operants to its Realization, and to the subsequent Aftereffects and Legacy of the act. We use both real-life and simulated examples to illustrate the application of the theory across multiple domains, from law enforcement to interpersonal relationships. Our goal is to help guide future scholarship and measurement.
... Other research has found that justifying unethical decisions was easier for creative individuals in ambiguous ethical situations and when primed to be creative (Mai et al., 2015), perhaps owing to cognitive and moral flexibilities. Similarly, research has begun examining the links between creativity, morality, and unethicality (Shen et al., 2019;Storme et al., 2020), with inconclusive findings. A useful framework to study the intersection of dark creativity and morality is the Moral Foundations Theory (MFT; Graham et al., 2013). ...
The dark side of creativity entails using original thought to meet a selfish, negative, or evil goal, with or without the deliberate intent to harm others. Recent empirical advances have studied the behavioral correlates of such creativity, including associations with aggression, deception, and subclinical psychopathy. The time, therefore, seems apt to propose a theoretical framework for dark creativity’s development and manifestation. This article outlines the AMORAL model of dark creativity, which traces a creative action from its Antecedents to Mechanisms and Operants to its Realization, and to the subsequent Aftereffects and Legacy of the act. We use both real-life and simulated examples to illustrate the application of the theory across multiple domains, from law enforcement to interpersonal relationships. Our goal is to help guide future scholarship and measurement.
... Ingroup, Authority, and Purity are binding foundations, pertaining to having high regard for group values (Graham, Haidt, & Nosek, 2009). Although creativity has been examined in the context of morality both theoretically (Runco, 2009;Runco & Nemiro, 2003) and empirically (e.g., Shen et al., 2019;Storme et al., 2020), it has yet to be studied using the MFT. Moreover, given that the current investigation aims to connect morality, creativity, and personality, it becomes imperative to review links between each of these dyads. ...
Creativity, and more recently dark creativity, have yet to be studied in relation to moral foundations, especially against the background of dark traits. This study identified moral foundations that predicted creativity, particularly malevolent creativity, after accounting for Dark Triad/Tetrad traits. Data (N = 529, Mage = 20.10 years, SD = 4.55) on self‐reported creativity, personality, and moral foundations were collected. Results indicated that lower concerns for binding foundations (loyalty, authority, and purity) explained creativity, especially malevolent creativity. In contrast, higher concern for individualizing foundations (care and fairness) predicted creativity, whereas lower regard for these morals predicted malevolent creativity. Planned mediations indicated that lower concerns for all foundations explained greater malevolent creativity due to higher dark personality dispositions. Limitations and implications are discussed.
The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity and Emotions provides a state-of-the-art review of research on the role of emotions in creativity. This volume presents the insights and perspectives of sixty creativity scholars from thirteen countries who span multiple disciplines, including developmental, social, and personality psychology; industrial and organizational psychology; neuroscience; education; art therapy, and sociology. It discusses affective processes – emotion states, traits, and emotion abilities – in relation to the creative process, person, and product, as well as two major contexts for expression of creativity: school, and work. It is a go-to source for scholars who need to enhance their understanding of a specific topic relating to creativity and emotion, and it provides students and researchers with a comprehensive introduction to creativity and emotion broadly.
Given its great benefits for individuals, organizations, and societies, creativity has received increasing attention from scholars. However, recent research has provided some initial empirical evidence that creativity has a potential dark side in organizations, such as triggering unethical behavior. At the same time, another stream of research focusing on the antecedents of creativity has revealed that individuals' (un)ethical behavior could influence creativity in intrapersonal and interpersonal ways. To build a useful framework to describe the relationship between creativity and (un)ethical behavior, this chapter reviews and divides the relevant literature into four categories. Specifically, we organize existing studies by considering two dimensions: the causality of creativity and (un)ethical behavior (i.e., the effects of creativity on [un]ethical behavior vs. the effects of [un]ethical behavior on creativity), and the perspective adopted by the research (i.e., intrapersonal vs. interpersonal perspective). Finally, we conclude by discussing promising directions for future research.
The creativity-morality nexus has come to the forefront of research with increasing interest from the scientific community and the general public, having many managerial and organizational insights as well as interdisciplinary theoretical implications. From the complexity perspective, the present chapter, building on our well-described definitions of creativity and morality, summarizes the main research approaches in this regard, highlighting the difficulty in achieving a definitive conclusion. Three often-reported relationships on this topic, namely no relation between creativity and morality, positive association, and negative association are reviewed. Based on these findings, a more comprehensive research measure and approach including meta-analysis and multitrait, multimethod route is recommended for future research in the domain.
The introductory chapter to Creativity and Morality outlines the relationship between the constructs, summarizing the AMORAL model of dark creativity (Kapoor & Kaufman, in press). Specifically, the Antecedents, Mechanisms (individual), Operants (environmental), Realization, Aftereffects, and Legacy of the creative action are theorized and described within the context of general and dark creativity. We present real-life and simulated examples to illustrate the application of the theory across multiple domains, from law enforcement to interpersonal relationships, from the initial idea to the impact of the eventual action. The AMORAL model will help introduce the main concepts that will be addressed in subsequent chapters.
Research on salesperson creativity remains as one of the most under‐researched topics in the sales literature despite the evidence that encouraging creativity in the sales domain is a source of competitive advantage. This paper aims to fill this research gap by exploring the influence of perceived ethical climate on salesperson creative performance, paying special attention to the role that emotions play in this process. Data provided by 176 supervisor–salesperson dyads confirm that the trust/responsibility dimension of an ethical climate is positively related to salesperson creative selling by increasing salespeople's organizational pride. Similarly, the perception of unethical selling practices negatively affects salesperson organizational pride, reducing the expression of creative behaviors. Moreover, the negative effect of unethical selling practices on creative performance is stronger (more negative) when salespeople's identification with an organization increases. Managerial implications and future research directions are also addressed.
Moral education as a school subject has started in Japan. In such a major milestone, it is important to consider how to shape moral education. This study focused on the relationship between moral education and creativity education. Fostering creativity is also considered an important goal. However, recent empirical studies have pointed out that activating creative attitudes can induce immoral behavior. If moral education and creativity education are at odds with each other, it may be difficult to promote them in parallel. Therefore, in this study, after reviewing the empirical research findings that creativity and morality conflict, the goals and approaches in moral education were organized. Then, focusing on the goals of moral education in Japan, the relationship between creativity education and moral education was theoretically examined. In conclusion, the negative impact of creativity education on moral education is likely to be limited. In the current Japanese moral education, there is a stronger emphasis on the development of independent judgment and multifaceted thinking skills than on the acquisition of specific moral values. Creativity may be at odds with morality in the narrow sense, but it is likely to make a positive contribution to the development of moral thinking skills. Although it depends on situational factors, the direction in which creativity is utilized depends largely on the moral values and beliefs of the individual. In order for creativity to be reciprocated, morality is necessary, and in order for morality to be exercised at a high level, creativity is necessary. Morality and creativity can be seen as having such a complementary relationship. In the future, it is required to examine more realistically how to develop moral education in relation to creativity education, from the perspective of class contents and achievement goals at each school level.
In the article the possibility of establishing a connection between the creative and moral spheres of the person is discussed. The author analyzes the results of foreign and domestic researches devoted to the study of the relationship between creativity and morality. The concept of "moral capacities" is proposed, its definition is given and three aspects of its study are identified. The results of a study of the relationship between creativity and the cognitive aspect of moral capacities in children of primary school age are presented. The empirical study involved 130 people; age – 7-9 years; boys – 71 people and girls – 59 people. The following methods were used: Torrance Test of Creative Thinking – figural form (study of the creative sphere) and two methods that assess children's ideas about moral behavior (study of the moral sphere). The results obtained show that there is no connection between the indicators of creativity and moral capacities in children of 7-9 years old, which is explained, according to the author, by their age characteristics. When interpreting the results, the specificity of primary school age is considered, associated with a turning point in the child's life.
Creativity self-assessments (CSAs) are frequently used in empirical research. However, they are often chosen for the sake of expediency. If used as outcome variables, there are legitimate concerns with their accuracy or validity. However, CSAs are most valuable when serving other purposes. In this review, I establish a categorization of CSAs based on their primary focus: Activities, Evaluation, Process, and Beliefs. I give a brief description and some examples of each type. Finally, I highlight specific instances of how CSAs can offer information and insights beyond performance-based measures.
The Alternate Uses Task (AUT) is one of the most commonly utilized measures of divergent thinking within the creativity research literature. Some participants respond to the AUT by describing the possibility of using various common objects in a violent way (e.g., beat someone with a book), and this unsolicited inclination is termed malevolent creativity. In this study, participant responses on the AUT were systematically coded for malevolent uses, and the relations among malevolence and various individual differences including sex, ideational fluency, and originality, were examined. Results revealed that male participants generated significantly more malevolent responses to the AUT than did females, despite no significant sex differences on originality or fluency. In addition, participant originality significantly predicted malevolence, although ideational fluency did not. Taken together, these findings suggest that malevolent responses on the AUT do not arise simply when very many uses are generated (i.e., when fluency is high) but may represent a particular inclination, disproportionately displayed by males, toward utilizing divergent thinking in a potentially violent way.
The relationship between creativity and morality is not only a key theme in creative psychology and moral psychology but also a central issue regarding individual differences in creativity. Based on our well-described definitions of morality and creativity, the current work systemically assesses three main viewpoints on this issue, namely that there is a positive correlation between the two constructs, that there is no correlation between the two constructs, and that there is a negative correlation between the two constructs, through reviewing studies scattered across multiple disciplines. We then draw an evidence-based conclusion that a positive association exists between creativity and morality by critically examining and integrating relevant empirical studies. We also discuss the potential implications of these findings for integrative training and for the fostering of creativity and morality in conjunction with several future research directions.
Applying a multilevel approach to meta-analysis is a strong method for dealing with dependency of effect sizes. However, this method is relatively unknown among researchers and, to date, has not been widely used in meta-analytic research. Therefore, the purpose of this tutorial was to show how a three-level random effects model can be applied to meta-analytic models in R using the rma.mv function of the metafor package. This application is illustrated by taking the reader through a step-by-step guide to the multilevel analyses comprising the steps of (1) organizing a data file; (2) setting up the R environment; (3) calculating an overall effect; (4) examining heterogeneity of within-study variance and between-study variance; (5) performing categorical and continuous moderator analyses; and (6) examining a multiple moderator model. By example, the authors demonstrate how the multilevel approach can be applied to meta-analytically examining the association between mental health disorders of juveniles and juvenile offender recidivism. In our opinion, the rma.mv function of the metafor package provides an easy and flexible way of applying a multi-level structure to meta-analytic models in R. Further, the multilevel meta-analytic models can be easily extended so that the potential moderating influence of variables can be examined.
Compared to the significant development of creativity studies, individual creativity research has not reached a meaningful consensus regarding the most valid and reliable method for assessing individual creativity. This study revisited 2 of the most popular methods for assessing individual creativity: subjective and objective methods. This study analyzed 1,500 individuals to investigate whether the methods for assessing individual creativity affect the measurement outcomes of individual creativity. Findings indicated that subjective assessments have a smaller variance a higher mean and a moderate but significant correlation with objective assessment methods. Such differences can be motivated by social desirability, consistency motif, illusory superiority, and leniency biases. Based on these findings, this study highlighted the need to acknowledge how subjective and objective assessment methods may affect individual creativity assessment outcomes.
Many studies have examined creative and innovative performance (CIP)–task performance, CIP–organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and CIP–counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) relationships in order to differentiate CIP from these established job performance dimensions. However, the overlap between CIP and these performance dimensions is still not clear due to mixed findings evident in the literature. To address this issue, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analytic review of empirical research into CIP–task performance, CIP–OCB, and CIP–CWB relationships derived from 39 studies and 40 independent samples. Overall, CIP was positively related to task performance (ρ = .55) and OCB (ρ = .56) and negatively related to CWB (ρ = −.23). We did not observe evidence suggesting that CIP measurement, rating source, OCB target, or CWB type moderated these relationships. Implications of our findings and directions for future research are discussed.
Ethical dissonance is triggered by the inconsistency between the aspiration to uphold a moral self-image
and the temptation to benefit from unethical behavior. In terms of a temporal distinction
anticipated dissonance occurs before people commit a moral-violation. In contrast, experienced
dissonance occurs after people realize they have violated their moral code. We review the
psychological mechanisms and justifications people use to reduce ethical dissonance in order to
benefit from wrongdoing and still feel moral. We then offer harnessing anticipated-dissonance to
help people resist temptation, and utilize experienced-dissonance to prompt moral compensation
and atonement. We argue that rather than viewing ethical dissonance as a threat to self-image, we
should help people see it as the gate-keeper of their morality
Dishonesty has been shown to positively correlate with creativity (Gino & Wiltermuth, 2014). However, to the best of our knowledge, no research has been conducted to investigate the possible link between moral thinking, creativity and dishonesty. Our study therefore aimed to investigate the relationship between these three variables. Specifically, we hypothesized that a) post-conventional moral thinking will positively correlate with both cheating behavior and creativity and b) conventional moral thinking will negatively correlate with cheating behavior and creativity. Creativity was measured with three tasks (Ekstrom, et al., 1976) combined with Hocevar’s (1979, 1980) Creative Behavior Inventory. Moral thinking was assessed through two of Kohlberg’s dilemmas (Colby & Kohlberg, 1987), and cheating was evaluated through a visual perceptual task (Gino, Norton, & Ariely, 2010). The results showed a positive correlation between post-conventional moral thinking and dishonesty. Indeed, the more moral thinking approached the post-conventional stage, the greater the cheating was. However, no significant correlation between creativity and cheating was found. This study reveals the “dark” side of post-conventional moral thinking, challenging the common belief that morality inhibits cheating.
Keywords: moral thinking, creativity, cheating, dark side of moral thinking
With few exceptions, scholarship on creativity has focused on its positive aspects while largely ignoring its dark side. This includes not only creativity deliberately aimed at hurting others, such as crime or terrorism, or at gaining unfair advantages, but also the accidental negative side effects of well-intentioned acts. This book brings together essays written by experts from various fields (psychology, criminal justice, sociology, engineering, education, history, and design) and with different interests (personality development, mental health, deviant behavior, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism) to illustrate the nature of negative creativity, examine its variants, call attention to its dangers, and draw conclusions about how to prevent it or protect society from its effects.
Research by academics, professional organizations, and businesses on ethics in the workplace often relies on surveys that ask employees to report how frequently they have observed others engaging in unethical behavior. But what do these frequencies in observer-reports say about the frequencies of committed unethical behavior? This paper is the first to address this question by empirically exploring the relationship between observer- and self-reports. Our survey research among the Swiss working population shows that for all 37 different forms of unethical behavior investigated, observer-reports show higher frequencies than self-reports. Ratios of observer- to self-reports vary substantially among these forms, ranging from 1.46 for improperly gathering competitor’s confidential information to 6.4 for engaging in (sexual) harassment or creating a hostile work environment. The results indicate that researchers should not assume that the frequency in self-reports can generally be approximated by the frequency in observer-reports. Four possible explanations are presented for the differences in ratios, with recommendations for future research.
Malevolent creativity (MC), or intending to inflict harm in original ways, is an aspect of creativity that has received little empirical attention. It reasons that generating malevolently creative products in response to a problem is dependent upon individual differences and environmental factors, especially with regard to the social and emotional content of a particular problem. A personality variable strongly associated with how individuals acknowledge and respond to such social and emotional content is emotional intelligence (EI). Individuals with higher EI often solve problems in cooperative, beneficial, and positive ways, which seems contrary to solving a problem with MC. In addition to testing whether EI is negatively related to MC in general, we analyzed whether that negative relationship would persist even after controlling for cognitive ability and task effects. Those questions were examined across two studies. Results suggest that individuals with lower EI are more likely to respond to different types of problems with increased instances of MC even when the social or emotional content of those problems are factored out. The implications and limitations of these studies, as well as future directions for the study of MC, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Meta-analysis is an indispensable tool used to synthesize research findings in the social, educational, medical, management, and behavioral sciences. Most meta-analytic models assume independence among effect sizes. However, effect sizes can be dependent for various reasons. For example, studies might report multiple effect sizes on the same construct, and effect sizes reported by participants from the same cultural group are likely to be more similar than those reported by other cultural groups. This article reviews the problems and common methods to handle dependent effect sizes. The objective of this article is to demonstrate how 3-level meta-analyses can be used to model dependent effect sizes. The advantages of the structural equation modeling approach over the multilevel approach with regard to conducting a 3-level meta-analysis are discussed. This article also seeks to extend the key concepts of Q statistics, I2, and R2 from 2-level meta-analyses to 3-level meta-analyses. The proposed procedures are implemented using the open source metaSEM package for the R statistical environment. Two real data sets are used to illustrate these procedures. New research directions related to 3-level meta-analyses are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
Although creativity is often seen as an aspect of self-fulfillment, it is important to recognize its social effects. The traditional view is that these should be beneficial, creativity thus being benevolent. However, those who wish to do deliberate harm to others can also display creativity, in this case malevolent creativity. This is governed by the same principles as benevolent creativity, differing only in its intended purpose. Like any creativity, malevolent creativity can be examined through its products. Concepts from research on creative products provide important insights into the activities of terrorists and criminals, especially the idea of competing solutions. The key ideas in malevolent creativity are summarized in 11 principles; recognizing these helps in developing more effective means for counteracting terrorism.
The goals of this research were to (1) explore the direct effects of and interactions between magnitude of consequences and
various types of proximity – social, psychological, and physical – on the ethical decision-making process and (2) investigate
the influence of empathy on the ethical decision-making process. A carpal tunnel syndrome vignette and questionnaire were
administered to a sample of human resource management professionals to test the hypothesized relationships. Significant relationships
were found for the main effects between magnitude of consequences and principle-based evaluation, cognitive empathy and principle-based
evaluation, and empathy and moral intention. Physical proximity moderated the relationships between magnitude of consequences
and utilitarian evaluation as well as magnitude of consequences and moral intention. Cognitive empathy moderated the relationships
between magnitude of consequences and principle-based evaluation and physical proximity and utilitarian evaluation. Affective
empathy marginally moderated the relationship between physical proximity and principle-based evaluation. Future research directions,
management implications, and strengths and weaknesses of the research are discussed.
Literature examines the relationship between innovation and performance and asserts a positive relationship between organizational learning and both performance and innovation. However, few empirical studies analyze these relationships together. This article explores those relationships using SEM with data from 451 Spanish firms. The findings show that both variables — organizational learning and innovation — contribute positively to business performance, and that organizational learning affects innovation. Another finding of this study is that size and age of the firm, industry and environmental turbulence moderate these relations.
Six studies demonstrate the "pot calling the kettle black" phenomenon whereby people are guilty of the very fault they identify in others. Recalling an undeniable ethical failure, people experience ethical dissonance between their moral values and their behavioral misconduct. Our findings indicate that to reduce ethical dissonance, individuals use a double-distancing mechanism. Using an overcompensating ethical code, they judge others more harshly and present themselves as more virtuous and ethical (Studies 1, 2, 3). We show this mechanism is exclusive for ethical dissonance and is not triggered by salience of ethicality (Study 4), general sense of personal failure, or ethically neutral cognitive dissonance (Study 5). Finally, it is characterized by some boundary conditions (Study 6). We discuss the theoretical contribution of this work to research on moral regulation and ethical behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
People's desires to see themselves as moral actors can contribute to their striving for and achievement of a sense of self-completeness. The authors use self-completion theory to predict (and show) that recalling one's own (im)moral behavior leads to compensatory rather than consistent moral action as a way of completing the moral self. In three studies, people who recalled their immoral behavior reported greater participation in moral activities (Study 1), reported stronger prosocial intentions (Study 2), and showed less cheating (Study 3) than people who recalled their moral behavior. These compensatory effects were related to the moral magnitude of the recalled event, but they did not emerge when people recalled their own positive or negative nonmoral behavior (Study 2) or others' (im)moral behavior (Study 3). Thus, the authors extend self-completion theory to the moral domain and use it to integrate the research on moral cleansing (remunerative moral strivings) and moral licensing (relaxed moral strivings).
The metafor package provides functions for conducting meta-analyses in R. The package includes functions for fitting the meta-analytic fixed- and random-effects models and allows for the inclusion of moderators variables (study-level covariates) in these models. Meta-regression analyses with continuous and categorical moderators can be conducted in this way. Functions for the Mantel-Haenszel and Peto's one-step method for meta-analyses of 2 x 2 table data are also available. Finally, the package provides various plot functions (for example, for forest, funnel, and radial plots) and functions for assessing the model fit, for obtaining case diagnostics, and for tests of publication bias.
Although both cognitive and motivational factors can influence the communication of uncertain information, most of the work investigating the communication of uncertainty has focused on cognitive factors. In this article, we demonstrate that motivational factors influence the communication of private, uncertain information and we describe the relationship between elasticity (i.e. uncertainty and vagueness) and motivated communication. We report results from four experiments that demonstrate that motivated communication is not purely opportunistic. The values people report are constrained by the elasticity of private information even when the costs and benefits of misrepresenting information are held constant. Perceptions of justifiability mediate the relationship between elasticity and motivated communication, and we explain our results in terms of the self-justification process. Copyright 2002 by Kluwer Academic Publishers
Many prescriptions offered in the literature for enhancing creativity and innovation in organizations raise ethical concerns,
yet creativity researchers rarely discuss ethics. We identify four categories of behavior proffered as a means for fostering
creativity that raise serious ethical issues: (1) breaking rules and standard operating procedures; (2) challenging authority
and avoiding tradition; (3) creating conflict, competition and stress; and (4) taking risks. We discuss each category, briefly
identifying research supporting these prescriptions for fostering creativity and then we delve into ethical issues associated
with engaging in the prescribed behavior. These four rubrics illustrate ethical issues that need to be incorporated into the
creativity and innovation literature. Recommendations for how organizations can respond to the ethical issues are offered
based on practices of exemplary organizations and theories of organizational ethics. A research agenda for empirically investigating
the ethical impact these four categories of behavior have on organizations concludes the article.
This study explores the performance of classical methods for detecting publication bias—namely, Egger’s regression test, Funnel Plot test, Begg’s Rank Correlation and Trim and Fill method—in meta-analysis of studies that report multiple effects. Publication bias, outcome reporting bias, and a combination of these were generated. Egger’s regression test and the Funnel Plot test were extended to three-level models, and possible cutoffs for the estimator of the Trim and Fill method were explored. Furthermore, we checked whether the combination of results of several methods yielded a better control of Type I error rates. Results show that no method works well across all conditions and that performance depends mainly on the population effect size value and the total variance.
Organizations operate in an increasingly uncertain and changing world. Competition on the domestic and international fronts is intense, and organizations must create new products, strategies, services, and methods for maneuvering in the changing environment. As a result, organizations are recognizing the value of employees’ creativity as a way to innovate and maintain a competitive advantage (Thompson, 2003). Researchers and organizations are now beginning to explore how having a creative identity can increase creativity (Farmer, Tierney, & Kung-Mclntyre, 2003; Jaussi, Randel, & Dionne, 2007). Given the power of identities for shaping performance outcomes (Ashforth & Mael, 1989; Beyer & Hannah, 2002; Wrzesniewski, Dutton, & Debebe, 2003), it is not surprising that recent research has begun to explore how the creative identity can also motivate creative behavior.
The successful detection of deception is of critical importance to adaptive social relationships and organizations, and perhaps even national security. However, research in forensic, legal, and social psychology demonstrates that people are generally very successful deceivers. The goal of the current research was to test an intervention with the potential to decrease the likelihood of successful deception. We applied findings in the architectural, engineering, and environmental sciences that has demonstrated that enriched environments (vs. scarce ones) promote the experience of comfort, positive emotion, feelings of power and control, and increase productivity. We hypothesized that sparse, impoverished, scarcely endowed environments (vs. enriched ones) would decrease the ability to lie successfully by making liars feel uncomfortable and powerless. Study 1 examined archival footage of an international sample of criminal suspects (N = 59), including innocent relatives (n = 33) and convicted murderers (n = 26) emotionally pleading to the public for the return of a missing person. Liars in scarce environments (vs. enriched) were significantly more likely to reveal their lies through behavioral cues to deception. Study 2 (N = 79) demonstrated that the discomfort and subsequent powerlessness caused by scarce (vs. enriched) environments lead people to reveal behavioral cues to deception. Liars in scarce environments also experienced greater neuroendocrine stress reactivity and were more accurately detected by a sample of 66 naïve observers (Study 3). Taken together, data suggest that scarce environments increase difficulty, and decrease success, of deception. Further, we make available videotaped stimuli of Study 2 liars and truth-tellers. (PsycINFO Database Record
(c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
Although many scholars believe that intrinsic motivation fuels creativity, research has returned equivocal results. Drawing on motivated information processing theory, we propose that the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity is enhanced by other-focused psychological processes. Perspective taking, as generated by prosocial motivation, encourages employees to develop ideas that are useful as well as novel. In three studies, using both field and lab data, we found that prosocial motivation strengthened the association between intrinsic motivation and independent creativity ratings. In our second and third studies, perspective taking mediated this moderating effect. We discuss theoretical implications for creativity and motivation.
Recently, Hosmer (1994a) proposed a model linking “right,” “just,” and “fair” treatment of extended stakeholders with trust and innovation in organizations. The current study tests this model by using Victor and Cullen's (1988) ethical work climate instrument to measure the perceptions of the “right,” “just,” and “fair” treatment of employee stakeholders.In addition, this study extends Hosmer's model to include the effect of “right,” “just”, and “fair” treatment on employee communication, also believed to be an underlying dynamic of trust.
More specifically, the current study used a survey of 111 managers to test (1) whether “right,” “just,” and “fair” treatment influences trust, both directly as well as indirectly via communication, and (2) whether trust influences perceptions of commitment and innovation. Strong support for the study's hypotheses and Hosmer's (1994a) model was found. Such findings support those who argue that moral management may be good management.
The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between malevolent creativity and personality, with a specific focus on the traits of antagonism, aggression, and sympathy. Participants (N = 265) completed a series of personality measures and two divergent thinking tasks (uses for a brick and a pencil). Responses were coded for fluency and malevolent creativity. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that gender, conscientiousness, and trait physical aggression accounted for unique variability in malevolent creativity scores. These results confirm the link between personality and malevolent creativity, corroborating the General Model of Aggression and extending understanding of malevolent creativity, a new subfield of creativity research.
The importance of ethical behavior to an organization has never been more apparent, and in recent years researchers have generated a great deal of knowledge about the management of individual ethical behavior in organizations. We review this literature and attempt to provide a coherent portrait of the current state of the field. We discuss individual, group, and organizational influences and consider gaps in current knowledge and obstacles that limit our understanding. We conclude by offering directions for future research on behavioral ethics in organizations.
Robert McLaren's article emphasizes the harm that scientific and technological creativity can do. He makes use of unusual literary and historical material as well as well‐known works such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein image. The article ends on a upbeat note, indicating how science and technology must be directed toward human ends and planetary survival.—Editors
A justice manipulation was used with 98 participants and all were tested for both positively and negatively directed creativity. Those treated justly demonstrated significantly more positive creativity as assessed by the expert-rated creativity of their positive solutions to a workplace problem. Those unjustly treated demonstrated significantly more negative creativity as assessed by total numbers of ideas generated for doing devious harm to another; and total numbers of negative ideas partially mediated impacts of injustice on expert-rated negative creativity. Implications for theory, research, and the management of creativity are discussed.
Tested the hypothesis that conformity and endorsement of the protestant ethic are positively related to the ethics of social responsibility, as opposed to the ethics of personal conscience. 44 male undergraduates completed macdonald's conformity scale, macdonald's poverty scale, the protestant ethic scale, and the survey of ethical values. Conformity, endorsement of the protestant ethic, and negative attitudes toward the poor were positively associated with the ethics of social responsibility. Results support the hypothesis and R. Hogan's finding "that proponents of the ethics of social responsibility tend to blame people rather than the 'system' for the source of their difficulty . . . " (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Considers the definition and assessment of creativity and presents a componential framework for conceptualizing this faculty. Including domain-relevant skills, creativity-relevant skills, and task motivation as a set of necessary and sufficient components of creativity, the framework describes the way in which cognitive abilities, personality characteristics, and social factors might contribute to stages of the creative process. The discussion emphasizes the previously neglected social factors and highlights the contributions that a social psychology of creativity can make to a comprehensive view of creative performance. (99 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Moral psychology is a rapidly growing field with two principle lineages. The main line began with Jean Piaget and includes developmental psychologists who have studied the acquisition of moral concepts and reasoning. The alternative line began in the 1990s with a new synthesis of evolutionary, neurological, and social-psychological research in which the central phenomena are moral emotions and intuitions. In this essay, I show how both of these lines have been shaped by an older debate between two 19th century narratives about modernity: one celebrating the liberation of individuals, the other mourning the loss of community and moral authority. I suggest that both lines of moral psychology have limited themselves to the moral domain prescribed by the liberation narrative, and so one future step for moral psychology should be to study alternative moral perspectives, particularly religious and politically conservative ones in which morality is, in part, about protecting groups, institutions, and souls.
© 2008 Association for Psychological Science.
This study examines the impact of a social desirability response bias as a personality characteristic (self-deception and impression management) and as an item characteristic (perceived desirability of the behavior) on self-reported ethical conduct. Findings from a sample of college students revealed that self-reported ethical conduct is associated with both personality and item characteristics, with perceived desirability of behavior having the greatest influence on self-reported conduct. Implications for research in business ethics are drawn, and suggestions are offered for reducing the effects of a socially desirable response bias.
The present research examines the within-person structure of job performance, with an emphasis on the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). We demonstrate, via two experiencesampling studies, that OCB and CWB are affect-driven phenomena that exhibit considerable within-person variation. Furthermore, as predicted, the within-person affective forces on OCB were independent of those on CWB-and the two phenomena were themselves independent. When directed at an organization (rather than a supervisor or coworkers), both were, however, related (within-person) to each other and to overall job performance. We discuss implications for the within-person performance structure.
Employing a die-under-cup paradigm, we study the extent to which people lie when it is transparently clear they cannot be caught. We asked participants to report the outcome of a private die roll and gain money according to their reports. Results suggest that the degree of lying depends on the extent to which self-justifications are available. Specifically, when people are allowed to roll the die three times to ensure its legitimacy, but only the first roll is supposed to “count,” we find evidence that the highest outcome of the three rolls is reported. Eliminating the ability to observe more than one roll reduces lying. Additional results suggest that observing desired counterfactuals, in the form of additional rolls not meant to determine pay, attenuates the degree to which people perceive lies as unethical. People seem to derive value from self-justifications allowing them to lie for money while feeling honest.
Knowledge is recognized as an important weapon for sustaining competitive advantage and many companies are beginning to manage organizational knowledge. Researchers have investigated knowledge management factors such as enablers, processes, and performance. However, most current empirical research has explored the relationships between these factors in isolation. To fill this gap, this paper develops a research model that interconnects knowledge management factors. The model includes seven enablers: collaboration, trust, learning, centralization, formalization, T-shaped skills, and information technology support. The emphasis is on knowledge creation processes such as socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. To establish credibility between knowledge creation and performance, organizational creativity is incorporated into the model. Surveys collected from 58 firms were analyzed to test the model. The results confirmed the impact of trust on knowledge creation. The information technology support had a positive impact on knowledge combination only. Organizational creativity was found to be critical for improving performance; neglecting ideas can undermine a business. The results may be used as a stepping stone for further empirical research and can help formulate robust strategies that involve trade-offs between knowledge management enablers.
The explanation of heterogeneity plays an important role in meta-analysis. The random effects meta-regression model allows the inclusion of trial-specific covariates which may explain a part of the heterogeneity. We examine the commonly used tests on the parameters in the random effects meta-regression with one covariate and propose some new test statistics based on an improved estimator of the variance of the parameter estimates. The approximation of the distribution of the newly proposed tests is based on some theoretical considerations. Moreover, the newly proposed tests can easily be extended to the case of more than one covariate. In a simulation study, we compare the tests with regard to their actual significance level and we consider the log relative risk as the parameter of interest. Our simulation study reflects the meta-analysis of the efficacy of a vaccine for the prevention of tuberculosis originally discussed in Berkey et al. The simulation study shows that the newly proposed tests are superior to the commonly used test in holding the nominal significance level.
The intent of this paper is the presentation of an associative interpretation of the process of creative thinking. The explanation is not directed to any specific field of application such as art or science but attempts to delineate processes that underlie all creative thought. The discussion will take the following form, (a) First, we will define creative thinking in associative terms and indicate three ways in which creative solutions may be achieved—serendipity, similarity, and mediation, (b) This definition will allow us to deduce those individual difference variables which will facilitate creative performance, (c) Consideration of the definition of the creative process has suggested an operational statement of the definition in the form of a test. The test will be briefly described along with some preliminary research results. (d) The paper will conclude with a discussion of predictions regarding the influence of certain experimentally manipulable variables upon the creative process. Creative individuals and the processes by which they manifest their creativity have excited a good deal of
Job performance is increasingly being seen to encompass constructs such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). To clarify the OCB-CWB relationship, a meta-analysis was conducted. Results indicate a modest negative relationship (p = -0.32). The relationship strength did not increase appreciably when the target of the behavior (the organization vs. other employees) was the same. Moreover, OCB and CWB exhibited somewhat distinct patterns of relationships with antecedents. The OCB-CWB relationship was moderated by the source of the ratings, the presence of antithetical items, and the type of response options. An employee-centric perspective is proposed whereby both OCB and CWB are perceived as adaptive behavior. Implications for organizations are discussed.
We examine empirically how an organization that deliberately enhances interpersonal trust to become a significant organizational phenomenon, is different from a similar organization without explicit trust enhancement policies. The point of departure is relational signalling theory, which says that trust is a function of consistently giving off signals that indicate credible concern, to potential trustors. A matched pair of two consulting organizations, with different trust policies but otherwise similar characteristics, were studied intensively, using survey research, participant observation and half-open interviewing, focused on the generation of trust and the handling of trouble when trust was threatened or destroyed. A higher stage of trust can be reached by an inter-related set of policies: promoting a relationship-oriented culture, facilitation of unambiguous signalling, consistent induction training, creating opportunities for meeting informally, and the day-to-day management of competencies. Such policies are in principle independent of recognized contextual contingencies. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2008.
The social psychology of morality: Exploring the causes of good and evil
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Moral emotions and unethical bargaining: The differential effects of empathy and perspective taking in deterring deceitful This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers
- T R Cohen
Cohen, T. R. (2010). Moral emotions and unethical bargaining: The differential effects of empathy and perspective taking in deterring deceitful
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
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