Do you believe Red Bull gives wings? When implicit theories of creativity impair creative performance
Résumé
Everyone seems to have something to say about creativity, thus participating in the reproduction of persistent myths about creativity that may influence creative behavior. This research explores the influence of Laypeople’s Implicit Theories of Creativity (LIToC) regarding the drivers of creativity on creative performance. An experiment randomly assigned 69 subjects to two conditions. In the control condition, subjects were invited to drink a fruit juice before performing a creative task. In the placebo condition, they were invited to drink the same beverage but were told that it was mixed with Red Bull. Analyses showed an interaction effect with the subjects’ LIToC about the positive influence of energy drinks on creative performance, such that among subjects displaying strong (resp. weak) LIToC, performance was lower (resp. higher) in both quantity and quality in the placebo than in the control condition. These results suggest an underlying dual cognitive mechanism, whereby the activation of creativity drivers signals that creativity is expected. Having strong beliefs in their effects might then trigger a complacent attitude and reduce the invested effort in generating creative ideas, while having weak beliefs might trigger additional involvement in meeting expectations. This research contributes to rethinking how we use specific drivers to stimulate creativity, as strong LIToCs about those drivers may have a counterproductive effect on creative performance.
Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
---|