Creativity from Constraint? How the Political Correctness Norm Influences Creativity in Mixed-sex Work Groups

Abstract

As work organizations become increasingly gender diverse, existing theoretical models have failed to explain why such diversity can have a negative impact on idea generation. Using evidence from two group experiments, this paper tests theory on the effects of imposing a political correctness (PC) norm, one that sets clear expectations for how men and women should interact, on reducing interaction uncertainty and boosting creativity in mixed-sex groups. Our research shows that men and women both experience uncertainty when asked to generate ideas as members of a mixed-sex work group: men because they may fear offending the women in the group and women because they may fear having their ideas devalued or rejected. Most group creativity research begins with the assumption that creativity is unleashed by removing normative constraints, but our results show that the PC norm promotes rather than suppresses the free expression of ideas by reducing the uncertainty experienced by both sexes in mixed-sex work groups and signaling that the group is predictable enough to risk sharing more—and more-novel—ideas. Our results demonstrate that the PC norm, which is often maligned as a threat to free speech, may play an important role in promoting gender parity at work by allowing demographically heterogeneous work groups to more freely exchange creative ideas.

Disentangling the Fairness & Discrimination and Synergy Perspectives on Diversity Climate

“…Over 30 years of research on the group diversity to performance relationship has demonstrated that the value in diversity tends to emerge only under the right conditions. Simply convening heterogeneous individuals together is insufficient for synergistic outcomes to emerge; without clear motivations, norms, and accountability structures to encourage group members to challenge each other's perspectives and persevere in their debate of multiple possible solutions, the different perspectives that may be held by diverse group members are often not shared or used or when expressed, often lead to disruptive conflict (Chatman, 2010;Crandall, Eshleman, & O'Brien, 2002;Goncalo, Chatman, Duguid, & Kennedy, 2015;Hobman, Bordia, & Gallois, 2004;Mitchell, Nicholas, & Boyle, 2009). The focus of synergy climate is thus on employees' shared perceptions about what is expected and rewarded with regard to how employees interact in order to learn from and leverage their synergistic potential.…”

A pawn in someone else's game?: The cognitive, motivational, and paradigmatic barriers to women's excelling in negotiation

“…In negotiation, women often behave differently than men only when there is ambiguity about what behavior is appropriate (Bowles et al, 2005;Kennedy et al, 2015;Kray & Gelfand, 2009;Mazei et al, 2015;Miles & LaSalle, 2009). Mixed-gender interactions could be more uncertain than same-gender interactions (Goncalo, Chatman, Duguid, & Kennedy, 2014). Consequently, it could be that within mixed-sex relationships, women apply communal sharing but men apply authority ranking.…”

Creativity within boundaries: Social identity and the development of new ideas in franchise systems

“…Recent studies have described creativity as a paradox that requires new practices and actions as well as stability, norms and routines (Fortwengel et al, ; Goncalo, Chatman, Duguid, & Kennedy, ). We shed new light on one paradox that involves balancing novelty and conformity.…”