Openness Towards Originality: Can Diversifying Experiences Encourage the Selection of a
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2018-07-20
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en
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Abstract
Often there are many ideas generated, but only a few ideas are selected for implementation.
Although creativity is often strived for, creative ideas are often dismissed at the selection
(Faure, 2004; Putman & Paulus, 2009; Rietzschel, Nijstad & Stroebe, 2006; 2010). The
current study examined whether exposure to experiences that violate our assumptions,
diversifying experiences, can encourage one to select a creative idea. It was hypothesized that
after these diversifying experiences people would be more open to original ideas and hence
encourage creative idea selection. Diversifying experiences, operationalized as events
conflicting with the laws of physics in a virtual museum were presented to a subset of our
participants (N =127) after which they were asked to select the two most creative ideas out of
a provided idea pool and rank order them. Their idea selection was compared to the idea
selection of participants who experienced conventional experiences in the virtual museum and
to participants who had only performed the idea selection task. The appreciation of schemaviolations
and the inclination to include odd exemplars in a category were assed to measure
openness towards originality. Schema-violations were appreciated more after diversifying
experiences compared to after conventional or no experiences. However, this increased
openness towards originality did not encourage creative idea selection. Future research could
explore whether increasing openness towards originality is a successful way in which creative
idea selection can be encouraged.
Keywords: creativity, creative idea selection, diversifying experiences, openness
towards originality
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen