The Adaption-Innovation Continuum, Occupational Type, and Course Selection

Abstract

Data on 2,375 subjects collected in 15 independent studies were cross-tabulated with reference to different occupational types and varying degrees of self-selection to courses. The results confirm the 1980 findings of Kirton and of Thomson that mean scores on the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory are more innovative for occupational groups which deal with more numerous and less rigid paradigms. The data also support the hypothesis that groups whose members have themselves taken the initiative to attend courses are on the average more innovative than groups sent by sponsoring organizations. The factors outlined above were additive and subtractive in regular and predictable increments.

Styles of Managerial Creativity: A Comparison of Adaption‐Innovation in the United Kingdom, Australia and the Unites States1

“…However, while this means that the interpretation of the overall KAI means of the samples should be undertaken with care, it is less problematical for the comparison of functionally defined groups within the sample. Within any group whose mean is observed to be higher than a reference sample, subgroups retain their expected differences in scores from each other (Kirton, 1980;Kirton and Pender, 1982). Moreover, the results of investigations conducted by other researchers are, as the following discussion shows, corroborative of the findings we have reported.…”

“…A degree of bias in the results might be suggested by the limitations imposed by the sampling frames. Self-selected course members are more innovative than other managers (Kirton and Pender, 1982). MBA students in particular may be higher KAI scorers than managers in general (Foxall, 1986a).…”

Effect of Reading a Summary of Research about Biological Bases of Homosexual Orientation on Attitudes toward Homosexuals

“…Interpretation of the finding of lower scores for women is complicated by the fact that much of the research summarized dealt primarily with men and no effort was made to assess social expectations in the testing situation. A tendency to adapt to the assumptions and constraints of the testing situation (Isaksen & Kaufmann, 1990;Kirton, 1977;Kirton, Bailey, & Glendinning, 1991;Kirton & Pender, 1982) may also have contributed to the finding of lower scores for women.…”

The Relationship of Personality and Intelligence to Cognitive Learning Style and Achievement

“…The learning or cognitive style he described is thought to be related to strategies of creativity, problern solving, and decision making but independent of cognitive capacity, success, cognitive techniques, and coping behavior. These assumptions arenot fully supported by the extant data, but the ideas and tests have captured the imagination of applied professionals, who seem obsessed with how people react to change (Kirton & Pender, 1982). Kirton (1976) described a single dimension labeled by the end points: adaptors and innovators.…”