Individualism-collectivism and group creativity

Jack A. Goncalo, Barry M. Staw

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Current research in organizational behavior suggests that organizations should adopt collectivistic values because they promote cooperation and productivity, while individualistic values should be avoided because they incite destructive conflict and opportunism. In this paper, we highlight one possible benefit of individualistic values that has not previously been considered. Because individualistic values can encourage uniqueness, such values might be useful when creativity is a desired outcome. Although we hypothesize that individualistic groups should be more creative than collectivistic groups, we also consider an important competing hypothesis: given that collectivistic groups are more responsive to norms, they might be more creative than individualistic groups when given explicit instructions to be creative. The results did not support this competing hypothesis and instead show that individualistic groups instructed to be creative are more creative than collectivistic groups given the same instructions. These results suggest that individualistic values may be beneficial, especially when creativity is a salient goal.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)96-109
Number of pages14
JournalOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Volume100
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2006
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Brainstorming
  • Collectivism
  • Divergent thinking
  • Group creativity
  • Individualism

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Applied Psychology
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

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