Evaluating Creativity: How Ideator and Evaluator Characteristics Shape Evaluations of New Ideas

Abstract

Creativity is essential for organizational innovation, performance, and survival. Consequently, research interests in creativity and innovation have rapidly increased over the past decades. The bulk of these research efforts have been dedicated to studying the creative idea generation stage. Despite calls for research, however, studies on the succeeding creative idea evaluation stage remain scarce. Most studies that have been conducted demonstrate that idea evaluation is not an entirely rational cognitive process, which has critical implications for our ability to forecast groundbreaking innovations. Indeed, good ideas are often rejected and mediocre ideas selected, thereby disturbing the innovation process that is so crucial for organizational performance and survival. Accordingly, to ensure a smooth transition from creativity to innovation, it is crucial to more elaborately study the idea evaluation stage of creativity. By means of the presentations and discussion in this symposium, we aim to increase our understanding of idea evaluation. Status and Idea Evaluation: An Alternative Explanation for the Bias in Favor of Men Presenter: Jack Anthony Goncalo; U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Presenter: Michelle Duguid; Cornell U. Presenter: Lillien M. Ellis; Cornell U. (Anti-)Egalitarianism Influences Openness to Ideas from High-Status Versus Low-Status Creators Presenter: Brian J. Lucas; Cornell U. Presenter: Lillien M. Ellis; Cornell U. Why Do Lay People Perceive Ideas to be Creative? Presenter: Shiyu Yang; U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Presenter: Jeffrey Loewenstein; U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Attachment to New Ideas: A New Perspective of Idea Evaluation Presenter: Moran Lazar; Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Presenter: Ella Miron-Spektor; INSEAD Presenter: Jennifer Mueller; U. of San Diego