Ethical saliency: Deterring deviance in creative individuals.

Abstract

Although creativity is commonly thought to be a universally beneficial outcome, a relationship has been found between creativity and deviance. Certain cognitive processes, such as flexible thinking, have been proposed as the connection between creativity and deviance, as creative people often possess the ability to think "outside of the box" and view situations differently than those who are less creative. Despite creative people having flexible thinking, however, not all engage in deviance. We explore possible situational factors that may predict deviance in creative people and test a contextual manipulation aimed at deterring deviance. In agreement with expectations, results show that ambiguous ethical situations, where rules are unclear, provide more of an opportunity for creative people to engage in deviance. In ethically salient conditions, where rules are reinforced, deviance is reduced. Counter to predictions, however, creativity seems to be unaffected or even slightly enhanced by ethically salient conditions. By creating an ethically salient environment, it may be possible to deter deviance while still allowing for creative expression.

In Bounds but Out of the Box: A Meta-Analysis Clarifying the Effect of Ethicality on Creativity

“…The impact of ethicality on creativity has been investigated through multiple theoretical frameworks including philosophical (Yurtsever, 1998), behavioral (Gutworth & Hunter, 2016), and cognitive (Hur et al, 2018). Each theoretical lens has used its unique definition or perspective of both ethicality and creativity.…”

“…Each theoretical lens has used its unique definition or perspective of both ethicality and creativity. For example, the philosophical view has examined the role of relativist and idealist ideologies in creative efforts (Yurtsever, 1998), while the behavioral view has examined the role of behaviors and actions on similar outcomes (Gutworth & Hunter, 2016). Still, other scholars have investigated the influence of ethical leadership (Asif, et al, 2019) and ethical culture (Hur et al, 2018) on creative outcomes.…”

“…Divergent thinking is contrasted by convergent thinking which focuses on identifying the one correct solution (Guilford, 1967). In relation to the ethicality-creativity relationship, Gutworth and Hunter (2016) investigated situational factors that could result in differences between divergent thinking and deviance. To assess creative thinking, the researchers asked participants to complete a measure of divergent thinking, The Torrance Test (Torrance, 1990).…”

“…Gino and Ariely (2012) also investigated creative behavior using Hocevar's (1981) Creative Behavior Inventory, finding multiple significant positive correlations between creative behavior and cheating. Along these lines, Gutworth and Hunter (2016) investigated creative problem-solving, using open-ended problem-solving tasks to assess creativity. Regarding creative problem-solving, the researchers found no significant relationship with deviance.…”

“…Previous investigations in this area range widely in their conceptualization of ethicality, with studies investigating ethicality broadly and others investigating specific components of ethicality, including ethical decision-making (e.g., Gino & Wiltermuth, 2014), ethical culture (e.g., Hur et al, 2018), ethical thought (e.g., Gutworth & Hunter, 2016), and ethical leadership (e.g., Asif, et al, 2019). Although distinct in their approach, ethicality has generally been investigated through a descriptive, as opposed to normative, lens regarding its relationship with creativity.…”