IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/mgtdec/v42y2021i6p1435-1453.html

The wellspring of creativity? Using divergent‐thinking tasks to understand creative characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Cortney S. Rodet

Abstract

Creativity and innovation go hand in hand, and understanding sources of creativity will expand organizational innovative capacity. This study explores the impact that characteristics have on creativity using divergent‐thinking experiments. I hypothesize that their influence stems from their effect on the experiences individuals acquire throughout life based on preferences, opportunities, and constraints. I find that gender, socioeconomic background, and exposure to other cultures are associated with personal experiences. In turn, experience is positively associated with greater creativity. I also explore creative style and its impact on creativity and find that having an experimental creative style positively correlates with creativity.

Suggested Citation

  • Cortney S. Rodet, 2021. "The wellspring of creativity? Using divergent‐thinking tasks to understand creative characteristics," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(6), pages 1435-1453, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:42:y:2021:i:6:p:1435-1453
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.3318
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.3318
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/mde.3318?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan S. Feinstein, 2011. "Optimal Learning Patterns for Creativity Generation in a Field," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 227-232, May.
    2. Steven J. Kachelmeier & Bernhard E. Reichert & Michael G. Williamson, 2008. "Measuring and Motivating Quantity, Creativity, or Both," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 46(2), pages 341-373, May.
    3. David W. Galenson, 2004. "A Portrait of the Artist as a Very Young or Very Old Innovator: Creativity at the Extremes of the Life Cycle," NBER Working Papers 10515, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Brice Corgnet & Antonio M. Espin & Roberto Hernán-Gonzalez, 2016. "Creativity and Cognitive Skills among Millennials: Thinking Too Much and Creating Too Little," Post-Print halshs-01439169, HAL.
    5. Florian Ederer & Gustavo Manso, 2013. "Is Pay for Performance Detrimental to Innovation?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(7), pages 1496-1513, July.
    6. Ishani Aggarwal & Anita Williams Woolley, 2019. "Team Creativity, Cognition, and Cognitive Style Diversity," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(4), pages 1586-1599, April.
    7. Cortney S. Rodet, 2021. "Experiments on creativity and work design," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 600-613, August.
    8. Gary Charness & Daniela Grieco, 2019. "Creativity and Incentives," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 454-496.
    9. Glenn Dutcher, E., 2012. "The effects of telecommuting on productivity: An experimental examination. The role of dull and creative tasks," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 355-363.
    10. Glenn Dutcher & Cortney S. Rodet, 2022. "Which two heads are better than one? Uncovering the positive effects of diversity in creative teams," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 884-897, November.
    11. repec:hal:journl:hal-02312050 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Sanjiv Erat & Uri Gneezy, 2017. "Erratum to: Incentives for creativity," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 20(1), pages 274-275, March.
    13. David W. Galenson, 2003. "Literary Life Cycles: The Careers of Modern American Poets," NBER Working Papers 9856, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rajeev K. Goel & Michael A. Nelson, 2025. "Is adversity the mother of innovation? International evidence at the firm level," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1873-1892, August.
    2. Rajeev K. Goel, 2022. "Knowledge diffusion worldwide: Role of university–industry collaborations and beyond," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(5), pages 1330-1339, July.
    3. Rajeev K. Goel, 2022. "Contributions of creative outputs to economic growth: A disaggregated analysis," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3872-3881, December.
    4. Cortney S. Rodet, 2021. "Experiments on creativity and work design," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 600-613, August.
    5. Wentao Yu & Xiaolan Tan, 2022. "The creative class in China: Heterogeneity and its regional determinants," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3466-3478, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Glenn Dutcher & Cortney S. Rodet, 2022. "Which two heads are better than one? Uncovering the positive effects of diversity in creative teams," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 884-897, November.
    2. Englmaier, Florian & Grimm, Stefan & Schindler, David & Schudy, Simeon, 2018. "The Effect of Incentives in Non-Routine Analytical Team Tasks - Evidence From a Field Experiment," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 71, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    3. Jared Rubin & Anya Samek & Roman M. Sheremeta, 2018. "Loss aversion and the quantity–quality tradeoff," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 21(2), pages 292-315, June.
    4. Erik Sarrazin, 2026. "Incentives and Creativity in Groups — Experimental Evidence on Creative Processes and Dimensions," Working Papers 2601, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, revised 21 May 2026.
    5. Cortney S. Rodet, 2021. "Experiments on creativity and work design," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 600-613, August.
    6. Grund, Christian & Harbring, Christine & Klinkenberg, Lisa, 2025. "An experiment on creativity in virtual teams," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    7. Florian Englmaier & Stefan Grimm & Dominik Grothe & David Schindler & Simeon Schudy, 2024. "The Effect of Incentives in Nonroutine Analytical Team Tasks," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(8), pages 2695-2747.
    8. Michela Chessa & Benjamin Prissé, 2024. "The Evaluation of Creativity," GREDEG Working Papers 2024-16, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    9. Sands, Daniel B. & Sohn, Eunhee & Seamans, Robert, 2025. "Concept and creativity: Proof-of-concept demonstration and aviation innovation in the United States, 1894–1913," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(5).
    10. Joaquin Artes & Jennifer Graves & Meryl Motika, 2019. "Creativity under Pressure: Performance Payments, Task Type and Productivity," Working Papers 20190028, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised Oct 2019.
    11. Charness, Gary & Gneezy, Uri & Henderson, Austin, 2018. "Experimental methods: Measuring effort in economics experiments," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 74-87.
    12. Grözinger, Nicola & Irlenbusch, Bernd & Laske, Katharina & Schröder, Marina, 2020. "Innovation and communication media in virtual teams – An experimental study," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 201-218.
    13. Englmaier, Florian & Grimm, Stefan & Grothe, Dominik & Schindler, David & Schudy, Simeon, 2021. "The Value of Leadership: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment," Other publications TiSEM 590def79-85b0-4d4a-aafa-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. Blaufus, Kay & Piehl, Kevin & Schröder, Marina, 2025. "Input versus Output Incentives in Idea Generation - An Experimental Analysis," VfS Annual Conference 2025 (Cologne): Revival of Industrial Policy 325392, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    15. Evgeny Kagan & Christian Jost & Tobias Lieberum & Sebastian Schiffels, 2026. "On Repeat: Does Iteration Drive Innovation?," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 343-361, March.
    16. Gill, David & Prowse, Victoria L., 2021. "The Creativity Premium," IZA Discussion Papers 14421, IZA Network @ LISER.
    17. Iryna Sikora, 2019. "Creative Production and Exchange of Ideas," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 11(5), pages 20-44.
    18. Rodet, Cortney S., 2022. "Does cognitive load affect creativity? An experiment using a divergent thinking task," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    19. Katharina Laske & Nathalie Römer & Marina Schröder, 2024. "Piece-Rate Incentives and Idea Generation – An Experimental Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 11594, CESifo.
    20. Ronald Klingebiel, 2022. "Motivating Innovation: Tunnels vs. Funnels," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 300-316, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:42:y:2021:i:6:p:1435-1453. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.