Study finds people have an unconsious aversion to Creativity

[Asilynne]

"How is it that people say they want creativity but in reality often reject it?" said Jack Goncalo, ILR School assistant professor of organizational behavior and co-author of research to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science. The paper reports on two 2010 experiments at the University of Pennsylvania involving more than 200 people.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-08-people-biased-creative-ideas.html

The article goes on to say that people may not even be aware of their bias against creative ideas, and that objective evidence promoting the creative idea is often unlikely to change people's minds towards it. It cites that creative ideas often bring about change, and with that change comes uncertainty which people naturally fear.


What are your thoughts on this? Personally, I've noticed this a lot, especially in jobs, places I volunteer and some other places. I've been discouraged from sharing ideas at times because of the deluge of negative feedback I received from some of my ideas, which were not only possible but would have either helped the place run more smoothly, brought an influx of talent to aid the cause, or made use of the untapped resources we already had available to us.

A lot of my ideas did require a group of people (mainly 4-5) to work together for their success, but because of people's fears that it wouldn't work, it ultimately didn't. Not because the idea was a bad one, but because others feared to get involved with it, mainly fearing its failure.

What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever had a legitimately good idea that either never got off the ground or failed because people shied away from it? Have you ever shied away from a creative idea yourself just because it was so much more different than anything you had ever thought of? There's no shame in the latter if its true, it seems to be human nature. But how does knowing about that unconscious tendency to avoid the creatively different affect how you will see ideas in the future?

Discuss ;D

[classy_cat18]

Any Art class where you have to follow strict rules and guidelines is biased against creativity.

Me and art don't really get along. >.>

[DivineAll]

Huh... guess it's true what they say: "Everybody's a critic" and "You're your own worst critic". People are picky, plain and simple, in other words.

[Asilynne]

Yeah, its interesting to have an insight as to why, after so many years of frustration x.x

I have made it a point in my own life, whenever I see a legit good idea getting ignored for no real reason, I will tell them its a great idea (when it is) and offer to help them get it off the ground. That way even if no one else says anything about it, at least that person knows their idea is a good one and they don't mistakenly think its them.

A RL example--the Animal Shelter I volunteer at has a resale shop that they use like a Salvation army but all the proceeds go towards the shelter. When I visited that shop recently with my mom and a friend, we got to talking with one of the other volunteers and she was saying how she wished they brought dogs and cats from the shelter to mingle at the store, so they can potentially get adopted and it would also show everyone who shopped there where their money was going.
The lady had been saying for years how great it would be but was being ignored, so my friend and I decided to just do it for her. We brought one dog and stayed for a few hours, talking to customers and letting them pet the dog, and it worked out. We did that once a week for two weeks.

And then...

Other volunteers, who for YEARS ignored that lady's idea, decided after seeing how someone else was doing it and it was working, all leapt to do it too. Now, me and my friend are out of the loop as they have practically taken over with gusto bringing dogs and cats to the resale shop every weekend XD Its almost ridiculous. But, really I'm just glad they are doing it even if we don't get any credit just because its at least helping out the shelter and that lady's idea is finally getting the attention it deserved :)

[Shadow Wolf]

Well, how can we resume this... "failure to launch"

Each one of us (and I speak mostly about my own case) might think of a good idea, but we become afraid of sharing it. Why?... Because society and also ourselves... we ten to be perfectionists. Mistakes are seen as a disgrace to our ideals, not as an opportunity to improve and keep trying. Having the fear to become the laughingstock, we prefer to hold, or even discard new ideas.

Another reason is that the media decides what is a good idea and what is not. Let's face it: if I come up with a new idea for fishing, and someone else comes with a new idea for technology, who will most likely have their idea considered?

Looking at all this, we can encourage someone to develop a new idea, but like ourselves, they will restrain themselves from doing so. And they're not at fault, because we've been educated to do so.

Rant aside, I have to say that this is the reason of why I become afraid to write in RPG, Fanfic, and MS discussions with X-Y positions (like political debates). And well... I get frustrated sometimes because I know I'll be helpful on any of them, but fear gets the best of me :sweat2:

Nevertheless, something that helped me is to become friends with people who spend time at those specific forums. Talking to Gavin and Brian has helped me write more in Fanfic, and seeing different people write at MS has helped me give my opinion on threads, and even begin some new ones. Having friends at your side gives you courage to overcome almost anything. :)

[Gavin Luper]

Talking to Gavin and Brian has helped me write more in Fanfic, and seeing different people write at MS has helped me give my opinion on threads, and even begin some new ones. Having friends at your side gives you courage to overcome almost anything. :)

I concur. And glad to have helped out, mate.

[Classtoise]

My question is, who did the study?

Or is it like those studies that claim vaccines cause Downs Syndrome despite having literally zero evidence because they took a group (kids with Downs), an outcome (it caused it) and then asked their parents if they had been vaccinated (probably "yes" for most of them), thus "proving" nothing.

[Asilynne]

"How is it that people say they want creativity but in reality often reject it?" said Jack Goncalo, ILR School assistant professor of organizational behavior and co-author of research to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science. The paper reports on two 2010 experiments at the University of Pennsylvania involving more than 200 people.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-08-people-biased-creative-ideas.html



Reading is "FUN"demental, Classtoise :)

[crown34]

Ba-zing!

[Classtoise]

Even still, the study seems a bit loaded. 200 is an awfully small sample size to insist "everyone has this trait".

[Asilynne]

It never says everyone, it merely states that some people have a tendency towards it. In my life experience I have encountered it quite a bit in various places I've worked and lived, and so the findings correlate with what I have lived. But your devils-advocate feedback is always welcome since basically I posted this to get other peoples thoughts on the matter.

Have you ever encountered anything like this, either with yourself or a different person? Have you ever been the one to shy away from an idea someone else had just because it was way different than what you were used to? Don't limit yourself to just discrediting the study, go ahead and share your experiences :)