Reactions to Creative Problem Solving Training: Does Cognitive Style Make a Difference?

Creative Problem Solving (CPS), a well‐documented methodology for developing creative‐thinking skills, has often been the focus of studies that have examined the impact of creativity training. The purpose of the present study was to extend this line of research in two ways. The first objective was to evaluate participants' reactions to specific elements of a CPS course. Here participants were asked to rate the CPS components, stages, principles, and tools for enjoyment and future value. The second objective was to examine whether participants' reactions to the CPS training varied in accordance to their cognitive style preferences. The inventory used to measure cognitive style is called FourSight. FourSight identifies respondents' preferences in terms of four key elements of the creative process: problem identification (i.e., Clarifier), idea generation (i.e., Ideator), solution development (i.e., Developer), and implementation (i.e., Implementer). Eighty‐four participants were enrolled in various graduate and undergraduate courses in CPS. Participants completed FourSight at the beginning of their respective course and at the conclusion they responded to a survey in which they evaluated various aspects of CPS for enjoyment and value. Overall evaluation of the CPS courses indicated that participants associated the greatest enjoyment and future value with tools, principles, and stages that were primarily orientated towards divergent thinking. Analysis of participants' reactions in light of their FourSight preferences revealed two distinct types of reactions to the course content. One form of response was labeled true‐to‐type, for example, individuals who expressed high Clarifier preferences found learning the Gather Data stage of CPS to be more enjoyable than those with low Clarifier preferences. The second type of reaction was referred to as a complementary relationship. This type of relationship between the course and the participant's style seemed to indicate a desire to develop a skill that is perhaps outside of one's style preference. For example, participants with strong Ideator preferences were more likely to associate higher levels of future value with the Prepare for Action component of the CPS process. The implications of these and other findings are discussed.     

Proactive Vitality Management,Work Engagement,and Creativity: The Role of Goal Orientation

This study tested the hypothesis that individuals can proactively manage their own energetic, affective, and cognitive resources in order to be creative at work. Building on proactivity and creativity literatures, we propose a theoretical model in which employees who proactively manage their vitality are more engaged in their work and show improved creative performance. We also tested the boundary conditions of this process. Participants were Dutch employees from various occupations who filled out a background questionnaire and five weekly surveys. The results of multilevel modelling analyses offered support for our model. Weekly proactive vitality management was positively related to changes in weekly creativity through changes in weekly work engagement. As predicted, learning goal orientation strengthened and performance goal orientation weakened the links between proactive vitality management and engagement, and between engagement and creativity. We discuss the theoretical contributions, and indicate how these findings can be used in daily working life.     

Dimensions underlying Holland's hexagon: Missing link between interests and occupations?

Holland uses a hexagon to model relationships among his six types of vocational interests. This paper provides empirical evidence regarding the nature of the interest dimensions underlying the hexagon. Two studies are reported. Study 1 examines the extent to which two theory-based dimensions—data/ideas and things/people—fit 27 sets of intercorrelations for Holland's types. Three of the data sets involve the mean scores of career groups (total of 228 groups and 35,060 individuals); 24 involve the scores for individuals (total of 11,275). Study 2 explores the heuristic value of the data/ideas and things/people dimensions by determining whether they contribute to the understanding of why interest inventories work. Two data sets covering a total of 563 occupations are used to calculate correlations between the vocational interests of persons and the tasks which characterize the persons' occupations. Each occupation's principal work tasks are determined from job analysis data obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor. Study 1 results provide substantial support for the theory-based dimensions. Study 2 results suggest that interest inventories “work” primarily because they tap activity preferences which parallel work tasks. Counseling and research applications of the data/ideas and things/people dimensions are suggested and implications for interest assessment are noted.     

Within‐person Relationship between Creative Self‐efficacy and Individual Creativity: The Mediator of Creative Process Engagement and the Moderator of Regulatory Focus

Integrating the dynamic self‐regulatory framework with the motivational self‐regulation perspective, we theorize and test how and when creative self‐efficacy increases individual creativity at the within‐person level. Conceptualizing creative process engagement as a self‐regulation effort, we theorize that creative process engagement mediates the within‐person effect of creative self‐efficacy on individual creativity. We further explore how creative self‐efficacy and chronic regulatory focus interact to affect the within‐person mediating effect. A sample of 145 R&D workers provided two monthly reports for their creative activities and experiences over 8 months. The findings provide empirical support for the hypothesized mediating mechanism. At the within‐person level, creative process engagement mediates the relationship between creative self‐efficacy and individual creativity. The results also show that chronic regulatory focus moderated the mediated relationship. Specifically, creative self‐efficacy is positively related to individual creativity for employees with a strong prevention focus and negatively related to individual creativity for employees with a strong promotion focus.     

In Search of the Creative Personality

Conceptual maps of occupational interests and environments, traits, and psychosocial motives were used in a search for general features of creative personality. Creative individuals seem to be concentrated in artistic and investigative occupations. In the samples surveyed, individuals in different arts and investigative fields differed considerably in personality traits, and the more creative did not differ from the less creative in the same ways across samples. The power motive generally may be important, but research to show this is lacking. Nevertheless, creative individuals were found to share strong symbolic interests, independence, and high aspirations. Viewing them as self-oriented rather than other-oriented is consistent with the above findings and with their love of work and difficulty in relationships; it points to transcendence of the self as a common moral problem. Implications for research on the creative personality include the importance of attention to the development of symbolic interests and to our projections of power on the creative individual.     

Accountability for others,perceived resources,and well being: Convergent restricted non‐linear results in two samples

This two‐sample investigation examined the influence of perceived resources on the form and magnitude of the relationships between accountability for others (AFO) and job tension and job satisfaction. Employing resource theory, we hypothesized that the non‐linear relationship between AFO and job tension would surface only for individuals high in perceived resources, whereas the association between these constructs would be positive and linear for individuals low in perceived resources. A similar relationship was hypothesized for AFO and job satisfaction in which the non‐linear effect would arise for individuals high in perceived resources, and negative linear effects would emerge for those low in perceived resources. Data from two samples (N= 201; N= 182) provided support and replication for the hypotheses. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.     

A quaternary temperament model and defense cluster preferences

A quaternary model of temperament constructed from orthogonal axes defined by Extraversion-Introversion and Thinking-Feeling resulted in four groups: Introverted Thinking, Introverted Feeling, Extraverted Thinking, and Extraverted Feeling. Hypothesized relationships between quaternary groups and defense cluster preferences were tested by giving 158 female college students the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Defense Mechanisms Inventory. There was little support for hypothesized relationships between the quaternary model and defense preferences. The only hypothesized significant group difference showed the Extraverted Feeling group recording a greater preference for the Reversal defense cluster than the Introverted Feeling group.     

When What You Want is What You Get: Pay Dispersion and Communal Sharing Preference

The question of whether pay structures should be compressed or dispersed remains unanswered. We argue that pay dispersion can yield uncertainty regarding others' intentions and behaviors; as a result, individuals take a greater risk trusting their group members as pay spreads widen. Accordingly, we explore the conditions under which individuals are more willing to take this risk by viewing their group members as trustworthy even when pay is dispersed. Specifically, preferences for how relationships and resources should be structured in groups should help to determine when pay dispersion relates to trustworthiness perceptions. We hypothesise that the cross‐level interaction between preferences for communal sharing (Level 1)—that is, the extent to which individuals prefer communal, egalitarian structures in their groups—and pay dispersion (Level 2) is associated with trust perceptions. Data drawn from a sample of university professors support our hypothesised cross‐level interaction, and show that when pay dispersion is greater, individuals perceive their group members as more trustworthy only when they have weak preferences for communal sharing. Our results signify the importance of individual attributes to understanding pay dispersion's effects, and show that trust is fostered when preferences and pay conditions are aligned.     

Team Proactivity as a Linking Mechanism between Team Creative Efficacy,Transformational Leadership,and Risk‐Taking Norms and Team Creative Performance

Despite the growing body of research on creativity in team contexts, very few attempts have been made to explore the team‐level antecedents and the mediating processes of team creative performance on the basis of a theoretical framework. To address this gap, drawing on Paulus and Dzindolet's (2008) group creativity model, this study proposed team creative efficacy, transformational leadership, and risk‐taking norms as antecedents of team creative performance and team proactivity as an intervening mechanism between these relationships. The results of team‐level regression analyses conducted on the leaders and members of 103 Korean work teams showed that team creative efficacy and risk‐taking norms were positively associated with team creative performance. Furthermore, the relationships between team creative efficacy and team creative performance and between risk‐taking norms and team creative performance were mediated by team proactivity. These findings offer new insights regarding the antecedents and the mediator of creative performance in team contexts and important implications for theory and practice.     

Does the Learning Styles Questionnaire Measure Style or Process? A Reply to Swailes and Senior (1999)

Swailes and Senior’s (1999) examination of the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ) raised a number of questions regarding the instrument’s construct validity and the relationship between learning style and learning process. Swailes and Senior argued that there may be three learning styles as opposed to the four posited by Honey and Mumford (1986), however, they did not include a three‐factor model in their confirmatory factor analysis and hence it is unclear if a three‐factor solution represents an improvement on a four‐factor solution. Furthermore, the present study draws a distinction between style and process and an argument is presented which contends that the three‐factor and four‐factor solutions represent process models, as opposed to the style models embodied in Kolb’s theory. This reply attempts to examine two‐ three‐ and four‐factor solutions for the LSQ. The evidence appears to favour the conventional four‐factor model, which may indicate that the LSQ measures individuals’ preferences for each of four stages of an experiential learning process and raises the question of its relationship with style per se.     

"It's Us Against the World": How Distrust in Americans versus People-In-General Shapes Competitive Foreign Policy Preferences

Previous research has uncovered links between generalized distrust and preferences for competitive (vs. cooperative) action. However, based on individuals' tendency to hold consistent attitudes and to believe that their own political preferences are morally legitimate, it was hypothesized that the direction of the relationship between distrust and competitive foreign policy preferences would depend on which category individuals had in mind: Americans or people. Two correlational studies with American participants were consistent with this hypothesis. Study 1 showed that distrust in Americans versus people had qualitatively different relationships with support for competitive policy preferences (i.e., immigration control, militaristic action). Study 2 found that when the covariance between distrust in Americans and people was controlled, distrust in Americans predicted opposition to torture of suspected terrorists, whereas distrust in people predicted support for torture of suspected terrorists. Moreover, individual discrepancies between distrust in Americans versus people uniquely predicted support for torture. Finally, mediational analyses in both studies indicated that political conservatism explained the effects between distrust in Americans versus people and competitive policy preferences. It is argued that distrust in Americans and distrust in people are distinct but complementary bases of Americans' moral-political reasoning.     

The Role of Epistemic Style in Counseling Preference and Orientation

Recent work has suggested that philosophical commitments play a part in directing preferences for different types of counseling, and in this article the authors extend that work with a series of four studies. Study 1 provides partial support for the relationship between epistemic commitments (rational, empirical, or metaphorical) and preferences for particular types of counseling (behavioral, rational emotive, constructivist). Studies 2 and 3 extend these findings by noting differences in how individuals gather, process, and respond to self-relevant feedback as a result of epistemic style. Finally, Study 4 provides tentative support for the possibility that counselor trainees gravitate toward preferring counseling theories that are consistent with their own epistemic orientations. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.     

工作-家庭支持对员工创造力的影响探讨

采用问卷调查法, 以773对上级-下属配对数据为样本, 探讨了工作-家庭支持对员工创造力的影响及其内在作用机制。结果表明, 在我国文化背景下, 工作-家庭支持由组织支持、领导支持、情感性支持和工具性支持四个因素组成, 其中组织支持和领导支持统称为工作领域支持, 情感性支持和工具性支持统称为家庭领域支持; 工作投入中介工作领域支持对员工创造力的影响; 创造性人格在工作投入与员工创造力关系之间起调节作用。     

Off‐Task Social Breaks and Group Creativity

This study investigates the effect of off‐task breaks, where individuals engage in a collective off‐task activity, on group creativity. Using an experimental method comprising 36 groups of 5 individuals, the relationships between different types of off‐task group break and performance in creative tasks post‐break are explored. When compared to the no‐break case, it is seen that off‐task breaks, in which all individuals participate in the group activity, lead to more original ideas being generated post‐break. On the other hand, individual incubation breaks and self‐organizing group breaks, lead to lower levels of post‐break idea originality when compared with the no‐break case. This research thus highlights the positive benefits of off‐task breaks involving full member participation, on the creative process in groups.     

L’influence longitudinale de la justice organisationnelle sur le bien-être psychologique au travail : quels types de justice sont déterminants ?

Regarding the relationship between perceived organizational justice and psychological well-being at work, few studies compare the influence of the four organizational justice facets, and even fewer do so longitudinally. The objective of this study is to evaluate the longitudinal relationships between these facets and psychological well-being at work. Social exchange theory suggests that distributive, interpersonal, and informational justices are better predictors of well-being than procedural justice. A sample of 192 Canadian workers from a diversity of occupations completed two self-reported questionnaires at a six-month interval. Results support the importance of rewards allocation (distributive justice) and information given on this allocation (informational justice) to promote workers’ well-being.     

Specific determinants of intrinsic work motivation,emotional exhaustion and turnover intention: A multisample longitudinal study

This longitudinal study tested a theoretically derived pattern of specific relationships between work characteristics and outcomes. The research model proposed four central domains of the work situation (i.e. task characteristics, workload, social support and unmet career expectations) and three important psychological outcomes (i.e. intrinsic work motivation, emotional exhaustion and turnover intention). More specifically, it was hypothesized that intrinsic work motivation is primarily predicted by challenging task characteristics; emotional exhaustion is primarily predicted by a high workload and lack of social support; and turnover intention is primarily predicted by unmet career expectations. Furthermore, we hypothesized that (i) the research model is generalizable over samples; (ii) work characteristics at Time 1 influence outcomes at Time 2; and (iii) the proposed causal pattern of relationships holds over different occupational groups. These hypotheses were tested by means of self‐report questionnaires among two samples (bank employees and teachers) using a full‐panel design with two waves (one‐year interval). Results showed that Hypothesis 1 was confirmed in both samples. Hypothesis 2 was confirmed in sample 1, but not in sample 2. In the latter sample, we found evidence for reverse causation. Hence, Hypothesis 3 could not be confirmed.     

Regulatory focus as a predictor of attitudes toward partitioned and combined pricing

Partitioned pricing is a widely used pricing strategy, but little is known about the buyer characteristics that influence its effectiveness. The current research contributes to the pricing literature by investigating the impact of regulatory focus on the perceived attractiveness of partitioned and combined pricing. In four studies, we hypothesized and found support for the idea that promotion focused individuals perceive partitioned prices to be more attractive than combined prices, while prevention focused individuals do not differentiate between the two pricing types. Our results also show that regulatory focus influences consumers' information processing style, which in turn leads to important differences in attitudes towards partitioned and combined pricing. Specifically, promotion focused consumers are more likely to engage in global processing and global processing is linked to preferences for partitioned (versus combined) prices.     

Job demands,work‐family conflict,and emotional exhaustion in police officers: A longitudinal test of competing theories

We propose and test a comprehensive theory designed to explain seemingly contradictory relations between job demands, emotional exhaustion, and work‐family conflict (WFC) reported in the literature. Using job demands‐resources theory, effort‐recovery theory, and personal resources theory we hypothesized that job demands would spillover to emotional exhaustion as mediated by WFC (causality model), and alternatively that job demands would also spillover to WFC as mediated by emotional exhaustion (reverse causal model). Further, we also hypothesized using loss spiral theory that a more comprehensive model representing reciprocal and cross‐linked effects (causal and reverse causal simultaneously) would best fit the data. The hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal study of 257 Australian (Victorian) frontline police officers at two time points approximately 12 months apart. We used structural equation modelling and found in support of the simultaneous reciprocal effects hypothesis, that the more comprehensive model fitted the data better than either the causality or the reverse causal model. Future research should more comprehensively model the important relationships between job demands, emotional exhaustion, and WFC to reflect their complex interplay. Interventions to reduce work demands arising from work pressure and emotional demands are indicated to prevent conflict at home and emotional exhaustion in police officers.     

Getting What the Occupation Gives: Exploring Multilevel Links Between Work Design and Occupational Values

The history of work design research is voluminous and compelling. Thousands of studies have demonstrated the wide‐reaching and powerful impact the design of work can have on a host of meaningful outcomes. Yet, absent in much of this research is an explicit consideration of the context within which work is performed and how this context might impact work design. Drawing from the theory of work adjustment, we describe the different ways in which occupations are linked to work design. In a sample of 805 individuals from 230 occupations, our multilevel examinations show the occupational‐level values of achievement, independence, altruism, status, and comfort are related to a variety of work characteristics. In addition, we found that work characteristics are key mechanisms through which these occupational values affect individual‐level job satisfaction. Implications of these results for work design theory and practice are discussed.     

Taking Time to Incubate: The Moderating Role of ‘What You Do’ and ‘When You Do It’ on Creative Performance

We explore how the choices available to individuals planning multi‐task work can facilitate the incubation of ideas and enhance creative performance. Using opportunistic assimilation theory, we hypothesize that two considerations can determine the effectiveness of incubation and creative performance. First, we argue that having the discretion to switch tasks when needed, as well as the timing of this discretionary switch between tasks (i.e., earlier versus later in the work process on the main task) is important. Second, the scope of the intervening task (i.e., in the same knowledge domain as the main task versus in a different domain) can lead to more effective incubation and creativity. Results of a laboratory study indicate that participants who made a discretionary switch to an intervening task later in their work process on the main task benefited significantly more in terms of creative performance than those who chose to switch earlier in their work process or chose not to switch tasks. Additionally, participants who worked on an in‐domain intervening task exhibited significantly higher creativity on the main task than those who worked on an out‐of‐domain intervening task. Furthermore, focus of attention on the main task partially mediated these results.