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The Dark Side of Creativity: Original Thinkers Can be More Dishonest

Author

Listed:
  • Francesca Gino

    (Harvard Business School, Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit)

  • Dan Ariely

    (Fuqua School of Business, Duke University)

Abstract

Creativity is a common aspiration for individuals, organizations, and societies. Here, however, we test whether creativity increases dishonesty. We propose that a creative personality and creativity primes promote individuals' motivation to think outside the box and that this increased motivation leads to unethical behavior. In four studies, we show that participants with creative personalities who scored high on a test measuring divergent thinking tended to cheat more (Study 1); that dispositional creativity is a better predictor of unethical behavior than intelligence (Study 2); and that participants who were primed to think creatively were more likely to behave dishonestly because of their creativity motivation (Study 3) and greater ability to justify their dishonest behavior (Study 4). Finally, a field study constructively replicates these effects and demonstrates that individuals who work in more creative positions are also more morally flexible (Study 5). The results provide evidence for an association between creativity and dishonesty, thus highlighting a dark side of creativity.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Gino & Dan Ariely, 2011. "The Dark Side of Creativity: Original Thinkers Can be More Dishonest," Harvard Business School Working Papers 11-064, Harvard Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:hbs:wpaper:11-064
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    Cited by:

    1. Raminta Pučėtaitė & Aurelija Novelskaitė & Anna-Maija Lämsä & Elina Riivari, 2016. "The Relationship Between Ethical Organisational Culture and Organisational Innovativeness: Comparison of Findings from Finland and Lithuania," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(4), pages 685-700, December.
    2. Petr Houdek & Štěpán Bahník & Marek Hudík & Marek Vranka, 2021. "Selection effects on dishonest behavior," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 16(2), pages 238-266, March.
    3. repec:cup:judgdm:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:238-266 is not listed on IDEAS

    More about this item

    Keywords

    creativity; creative thinking; dishonesty; intelligence; unethical behavior;
    All these keywords.

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