Publications
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We regularly write articles about creativity within organisations. Below, you will find a sample selection of these publications, sorted by theme.
1. Effectiveness of brainstorming groups
We often find that brainstorming groups in organisations do not perform as well as they should. The reasons why this is so, what processes are involved and how brainstorming groups can perform better is the focus of many of our research projects. Experience has taught us that people can both disrupt each other's creative process and spark it.
Stroebe, W., Nijstad, B. A., & Rietzschel, E. F. (2010). Beyond productivity loss in brainstorming groups: The evolution of a question. In M. P. Zanna & J. M. Olson (Eds.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 43, pp. 158-203). New York: Academic Press.
Nijstad, B. A. & Stroebe, W. (2006). How the group affects the mind: A cognitive model of idea generation in groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 186-213.
Nijstad, B. A., Stroebe, W., & Lodewijkx, H. F. M. (2003). Production blocking and idea generation: Does blocking interfere with cognitive processes? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 531-548.
Nijstad, B. A., Stroebe, W., & Lodewijkx, H. F. M. (2002). Cognitive stimulation and interference in groups: Exposure effects in an idea generation task. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,38, 535-544.
2. Effective selection of ideas
Sometimes, the problem is not so much that there are no creative ideas available, but that these creative ideas are not detected, recognised or implemented. Our research has shown that people tend to set aside original ideas.
Rietzschel, E. F., Nijstad, B. A., & Stroebe, W. (2014). Effects of problem scope and creativity instructions on idea generation and selection. Creativity Research Journal, 26, 185-191.
Rietzschel, E. F., Nijstad, B. A., & Stroebe, W. (2010). The selection of creative ideas after individual idea generation: Choosing between creativity and impact. British Journal of Psychology, 101, 47-68.
Rietzschel, E. F., Nijstad, B. A., & Stroebe, W. (2006). Productivity is not enough: A comparison of interactive and nominal groups on idea generation and selection. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 244-251.
3. Creativity: thinking flexibly or failing to give up?
The majority of people associate creativity with flexible thinking. By doing so, they fail to recognise that gaining creative ideas or solutions requires perseverance. Our research has shown that perseverance is a significant element in achieving creativity, though.
Baas, M., Koch, S., Nijstad, B. A., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2015). Conceiving creativity: The nature and consequences of lay people’s beliefs about the realization of creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 9, 340-354.
De Dreu, C. K. W., Nijstad, B. A., Baas, M., Wolsink, I., & Roskes, M. (2012). Working memory benefits creative insight, musical improvisation and original ideation through maintained task-focused attention. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 656-669.
Roskes, M., De Dreu, C. K. W., & Nijstad, B. A. (2012). Necessity is the mother of invention: Avoidance motivation stimulates creativity through cognitive effort. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 242-256.
De Dreu, C. K. W., Nijstad, B. A., & Baas, M. (2011). Behavioral activation links to creativity because of increased cognitive flexibility. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2, 72-80.
Nijstad, B. A., De Dreu, C. K. W., Rietzschel, E. F., & Baas, M. (2010). The dual pathway to creativity model: Creative ideation as a function of flexibility and persistence. European Review of Social Psychology, 21, 34-77.
De Dreu, C. K. W., Baas, M., & Nijstad, B. A. (2008). Hedonic tone and activation level in the mood-creativity link: Towards a dual pathway to creativity model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 739-756.
4. Creativity and innovation in teams: the role of information processing and cooperation
Why are some teams more creative than others? Our research shows that it is vital that team members are motivated to think carefully and willing to work together.
Nijstad, B. A. (2015). Creativity in groups. In J. Dovidio & J. Sherman (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology: Group processes and intergroup relations (pp. 35-65). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Nijstad, B. A., Berger-Selman, F., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2014). Innovation in top management teams: Minority dissent, transformational leadership, and radical innovations. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 23, 310-322.
Bechtoldt, M. N., Choi, H-S, & Nijstad, B. A. (2012). Individuals in mind, mates by heart: Individualistic self-construal and collective value orientation as predictors of group creativity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 838-844.
Bechtoldt, M., De Dreu, C. K. W., Nijstad, B. A., & Choi, H. S. (2010). Motivated information processing, social tuning, and group creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 622-637.
Nijstad, B. A. & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2002). Creativity and group innovation. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 51, 401-407.
| Last modified: | 31 May 2021 1.16 p.m. |