Improving The Measurement of Divergent Thinking Attitudes in Organizations

Three new improved scales measuring three independent divergent thinking attitudes were developed in field research with managers and were labeled “Valuing New Ideas,” “Belief that Creativity is Not for Only a Select Few,” and “Not Feeling Too Busy for New Ideas.” These three scales represent an improvement over three scales initially identified by Basadur and Hausdorf (1996). Two studies were done. The first was a reliability study in which higher internal consistencies and improved understanding and labeling were achieved. The second was a field experiment in which preliminary evidence of external validity of the three scales was established. The scales effectively measured the changes in these attitudes that were expected after training. Opportunities for future research are identified.     

Effects of Marijuana Use on Divergent Thinking

This research sought to evaluate the effect of marijuana use on creativity as defined by the term divergent thinking. Another objective was to verify if there was a difference in the creativity of regular users (60 participants) and that of novice users of marijuana (60 participants) under 3 experimental conditions: without marijuana, with placebo, and with marijuana. The 4 divergent thinking factors (fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration) were measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Form A, Figural scale). The results showed that the use of marijuana had no positive effects on divergent thinking (creativity) in novice users and reduced it in regular users.     

中学生发散思维能力培养的实验研究

本研究以初中一年级学生为被试 ,对学生进行发散性思维训练 ,探讨培养中学生创造力的可行性及有效措施。研究结果表明 :对中学生进行发散思维训练是可行的 ,学生在流畅力、精进力、变通力、独创力等方面都有所进步。另外 ,实验还考察了发散思维训练对推理能力和学习成绩的影响 ,结果未发现明显作用     

Identification with the American South and Anti-Muslim Attitudes

ABSTRACT

The number of anti-Muslim hate groups in the U.S. nearly tripled between 2015 and 2016. In addition, the number of hate crimes committed against members of the religion jumped 67% in 2015 alone. Addressing the rise in anti-Muslim prejudice is critical. We examined (N = 406) the role of regional identification in predicting anti-Muslim attitudes. That is, identification with the American South, a more conservative and religious part of the country with a history of slavery and violent secession movements, predicted anti-Muslim attitudes. This relationship was mediated by conservation values. For Southerners who strongly identified with “the South”, the endorsement of values related to a general resistance to change led to greater anti-Muslim attitudes. Anti-Muslim bias may lie in perceptions of threat: for strongly identified Southerners, the Muslim faith is viewed as a societal threat.     

The Effects of Affect Manipulation and Information Exposure on Divergent Thinking

This study examined how affective states and exposure to diverse information influence figural divergent thinking using a pretest-posttest design. A total of 148 participants were divided into 4 conditions: positive affect, negative affect, information, and control. In the positive and negative affect conditions, participants respectively listened to the elation and depression statements of the Velten procedure. In the information condition, participants listened to the neutral statements of the Velten procedure. In the control condition, participants listened to word-processing instructions. Divergent thinking was measured using the figural form of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT), and affect was measured using a mood questionnaire and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Multivariate analyses of covariance were conducted using the TTCT, mood, and state-trait anxiety premeasures as covariates; the TTCT, mood, and state-trait anxiety postmeasures as the dependent variables; and treatment condition as the independent variable. Results showed a significant effect of condition on posttreatment TTCT scores, F(3, 140) = 3.37, p = .0203; mood, F(3, 140) = 7.44, p = .0001; and state anxiety, F(3, 140) = 6.27, p = .0005. Comparison tests showed that the information exposure treatment resulted in significantly higher TTCT scores than the control condition, indicating that exposure to diverse information can enhance divergent thinking. Results further indicated that, although the positive affect manipulation was effective in enhancing mood and reducing state anxiety, it did not enhance divergent thinking scores. The negative affect manipulation did not appear to be effective. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.     

Benefits of Incubation on Divergent Thinking

Studies on whether fixation cues provided in the first episode of divergent thinking tasks influence creative outcomes after incubation, as they do for convergent problem-solving tasks, remain limited. This research examined the beneficial effects of incubation using the delayed- and immediate-incubation paradigms. Participants in Experiment 1 were either provided or not provided fixation cues during the first episode of a new type of divergent-thinking task, similar to creating titles in plot stories. The results indicated that fixation cues moderated people’s creative outcomes after incubation. Going through incubation did not improve the participants’ creativity in the second episode for strong fixation cues. By contrast, an incubation period led to the generation of more divergent items in the second episode compared to the first episode for less strong fixation cues, and this led to the performance matching the condition without fixation cues. The results from Experiment 2 suggested that immediate incubation downsized the influence of fixation cues. Therefore, if people want to promote their creativity through a period of incubation, the outcomes may still depend on the conditions of environments in which the creative works are executed.     

Crossing the Border: Latino Attitudes Toward Immigration Policy

In the midst of the ongoing and highly polarized immigration debate, it seems that little attention has been paid to how Latinos view efforts to address the issues of undocumented immigrants residing in the United States and enhanced enforcement efforts along the U.S.–Mexico border. Consequently, questions arise as to the degree of support for or rejection of such measures within the Latino community and among the various segments of that community. Do U.S.-born Latinos, foreign-born naturalized citizens, and undocumented immigrants from various parts of Latin America have similar or divergent views on these issues? It is generally assumed that ethnicity is an important factor in influencing attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policies. Some studies have found that foreign-born Latinos have more positive attitudes toward immigration than native-born Latinos due in part to their shared immigration experience. There are, however, other studies demonstrating that Latino immigrants have often expressed support for more restrictive immigration policies. It may hold true, in fact, that many Latinos have ambiguous and conflicting attitudes about these issues. This article will try to shed some light on Latinos’ attitudes regarding specific policy measures by analyzing data from the Pew Hispanic Center National Survey of Latinos, which allows for considerable differentiation among various sectors of the Latino population.     

Enhancing the Effects of Sexual Orientation Diversity Training: The Effects of Setting Goals and Training Mentors on Attitudes and Behaviors

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of goal-setting theory (Locke, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 3, 157–189, 1968; Locke and Latham, 1990, A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall; Locke and Latham, American Psychologist, 57, 705–717, 2002) within a diversity training context to enhance training outcomes. In particular, the training focused on an understudied group—gay men and lesbians—and examined both the short- and long-term outcomes associated with diversity training.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Using experimental methods in a field setting, participants (college students) were randomly assigned to a 2(goal-setting condition: self-set goals and no goals) × 2(mentor goal condition: mentor goals and no mentor goals) factorial design, where behavioral and attitudinal data were collected at two points in time: 3 months and 8 months subsequent to training.

Findings

Participants who developed sexual orientation supportive goals reported more supportive behaviors and attitudes toward gay and lesbian individuals than those who did not. Sexual orientation supportive behaviors mediated the relationship between goal-setting and sexual orientation attitudes.

Implications

The pattern of results suggests that time was the key for participants to meet the goals that were set during the diversity training. Both behaviors and attitudes were influenced by the goal setting at 8 months, but not after 3 months. This study demonstrates the importance of measuring both behaviors and attitudes in assessing diversity training.

Originality/Value

This is one of the first studies to integrate goal-setting theory (Locke and Latham, 1990, A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall; Locke and Latham, American Psychologist, 57, 705–717, 2002) into the area of diversity training in an experimental field setting. We used a longitudinal design, addressing limitations of past research that usually examine short-term reactions to diversity training.     

The Effects of Modafinil on Convergent and Divergent Thinking of Creativity: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Modafinil is a drug licensed for the treatment of narcolepsy and sleep apnea. Recently, modafinil has been reported to be used as a pharmacological cognitive enhancer by healthy individuals with no psychiatric disorders. This paper reports on a study that investigated the effects of modafinil on divergent and convergent thinking tasks of creativity. Sixty‐four healthy male (n = 31) and female (n = 33) volunteers participated in a randomized double‐blind placebo‐controlled parallel group design study. For the convergent thinking tasks, modafinil had no significant main effect on the Group Embedded Figures Task and the Remote Associates Task (RAT). However, a median split analysis showed that modafinil participants low in creativity personality trait had significantly higher RAT scores (Mean [M] = 6.85, SD = 3.39; 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 5.53–8.2) than those high in creativity personality trait (M = 4.27, SD = 3.0; 95% CI: 2.4–6.0). For the divergent thinking tasks, relative to placebo (M = 1.195, SD = 0.28; 95% CI: 1.0–1.3), modafinil (M = 0.77, SD = 0.37; 95% CI: 0.63–0.92) significantly reduced the performance of flexibility scores and marginally reduced the elaboration scores as measured by the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA). Overall, participants on modafinil (M = 6.3, SD = 2.6; 95% CI: 5.3–7.4) had significantly lower ATTA scores relative to participants on placebo (M = 9.5, SD = 2.3; 95% CI: 8.6–10.4). These results indicate that modafinil might reduce divergent thinking of creativity in healthy individuals. They suggest that, rather than being a more general cognitive enhancer, modafinil might have negative and subtle effects on creativity. However, the results are from a small‐scale trial, which tested a small number of participants. Therefore, the results need to be interpreted with caution. A replication with a large sample of participants is recommended.     

Effects of Movement Improvisation and Aerobic Dancing on Motor Creativity and Divergent Thinking

Creativity is considered to be an embodied concept, where internal psychological and external behavioral processes are intertwined. Creativity enhancement programs often target the cognitive side of this bi‐dimensionality leaving the impact of motor interventions underexplored. To address this gap in the literature, we tested the effectiveness of two motor programs on motor creativity and divergent thinking (verbal and figural). A total of 92 college students (M_age = 25.36, SD = 2.66) were randomly allocated to a movement improvisation, an aerobic dance, or a control condition. Participants in both motor programs took part in ten 30‐minute classes twice a week over a period of 5 weeks. The findings revealed a significant effect of the motor programs on motor fluency and flexibility. Movement improvisation yielded the greatest effects on those variables, followed by aerobic dancing and control condition. Movement improvisation also impacted significantly more figural originality than the control condition. However, the effects were limited to the motor domain and failed to transfer into other divergent thinking variables. The findings highlighted the contribution of movement programs to creative potential development, and the imperative role of a non‐judgmental environment, where individuals are free to move spontaneously.     

Thinking about Mutual Influences and Connections across Cultures Relates to More Positive Intergroup Attitudes: An Examination of Polyculturalism

Polyculturalism is an ideology focusing on the many ways that racial and ethnic groups have interacted, exchanged ideas, and influenced each other's cultures throughout history and into the present. In this paper, we first briefly review the introduction of and research on polyculturalism by historians. Then we summarize numerous studies with racially and ethnic diverse college students and adult community members in the United States, which have found that greater endorsement of polyculturalism is significantly associated with more positive racial/ethnic intergroup attitudes (less support for social inequality, greater interest in, appreciation for, and comfort with diversity and differences, greater interest in intergroup contact, and greater support for liberal immigration and affirmative action policies) and lower sexual prejudice (lower affective prejudice toward gay men and lesbians, traditional heterosexism, and denial of discrimination against homosexuals, and more positive attitudes toward gay men and lesbians). We conclude by discussing several future directions of this work.     

Turkish College Students' Attitudes Toward Women Managers: The Effects of Patriarchy,Sexism, and Gender Differences

The authors examined how patriarchy, sexism, and gender influence Turkish college students' attitudes toward women managers. Turkish undergraduate students (N = 183) from Middle East Technical University completed questionnaires measuring attitudes toward women managers as well as attitudes toward the concepts of hostile and benevolent sexism and support for patriarchy. Participants were of upper- or middle-class Turkish backgrounds. The results showed that male participants exhibited less positive attitudes toward women managers than did female participants. In addition, participants who held more favorable attitudes toward patriarchy and who scored high on hostile sexism also held less positive attitudes toward women managers than those who held less favorable attitudes toward patriarchy and who scored low on hostile sexism. A regression analysis showed that support for patriarchy and hostile sexism was more important for explaining less favorable attitudes toward women managers than was benevolent sexism.     

Parental Training for Incarcerated Fathers: Effects on Attitudes,Self-Esteem,and Children's Self-Perceptions

Abstract

The effects of parent education programs on the parenting attitudes and abilities of 30 U.S. male inmates and on the self-perceptions of their children (aged 8-17 years) were examined. Inmates were pre- and posttested with the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory and the Index of Self-Esteem. The children were administered the Self-Perception Profile for Children or the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. Participants in the experimental group completed a 6-week program including parental training and behavior-management training. The control group's 6-week program consisted of viewing family-related videotapes, answering questions, and discussing the contents of the videotapes. Parent education improved the attitudes of inmates toward appropriate parenting but did not significantly change their children's self-perceptions.     

Theory of Mind and the Origin of Divergent Thinking

The development of a “theory of mind” may not only be important for understanding the minds of others but also for using one's own mind. To investigate this supposition, 40 children between the ages of three and four were given false-belief and creativity tasks. The numbers of appropriate and of original responses in the creativity test were found to correlate positively with performance on false-belief tasks. This association was robust, as it continued to be strong and significant even when age and verbal intelligence were partialled out. The results support the hypothesis that the metarepresentational skills involved in theory of mind also affect the way children can access and scan their own mental repertoire beyond the areas of currently activated content (i.e. divergent thinking). With the advent of theory of mind a basic cognitive shift takes place in human development, and possibly took place in cognitive evolution.     

Scientific Creativity: Divergent and Convergent Thinking and the Impact of Culture

This paper examines the contrast and distinction between divergent and convergent scientific creativity, and the paradoxical relationship of scientific creativity with cultural factors in elementary students. With a newly developed measure of potential for scientific creativity, EPoC Science (Lubart et al., in press), students produce ideas in response to scientific problems, and both divergent‐exploratory as well as convergent‐integrative processes involved in scientific creativity are analyzed. An empirical study (n = 118) was conducted in France with elementary school children (ages 7–10). The divergent‐exploratory task was scored for fluency and statistical uniqueness. For the convergent‐integrative task, the number of concepts that a student integrated and synthesized, and the originality of the synthesis were scored. Results showed that divergent and convergent task performances were weakly related to each other. This suggests that divergence and convergence are two relatively distinct processes for scientific creativity, and that the relation is more complex than commonly assumed. In terms of culture‐related variables, immigrant cultural background (number of family members born outside of France) was significantly and negatively correlated with the originality of divergent and convergent scientific creativity. Findings are discussed and educational implications are proposed.     

Considerations and Strategies for Enhancing the Supervision and Training of Foreign-Born Spanish-Speaking Supervisees

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy - Efforts to train clinicians proficient in the delivery of Spanish services have expanded in response to the mental health needs of the growing Spanish...     

Children's Original Thinking: An Empirical Examination of Alternative Measures Derived From Divergent Thinking Tasks

Children's creative potential is often assessed using cognitive tests that require divergent thinking, such as the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT; E. P. Torrance, 1974, 1976, 1990). In this study the authors investigated the effect of various scoring systems on the originality index, evaluating the high intercorrelation of fluency and originality measures found in the TTCT scoring system and the applicability of TTCT scoring norms over time and across age groups. In 3 studies, the originality of elementary school children was measured using TTCT norms and various sample-specific scoring methods with the TTCT Unusual Uses of a Box test as well as social-problem-solving tasks. Results revealed an effect of scoring technique on creativity indices as well as on the reliability of originality scores and the relationship between originality and other ability measures. The usefulness of the various measures for understanding children's original thinking are discussed.