Personality, attitude, and leader influences on divergent thinking and creativity in organizations /
Divergent thinking is an integral process in creativity; indeed, the terms are often used synonymously. Although divergent thinking processes are difficult to directly observe and assess, these processes are essential to and manifested in creative ideas and products (Amabile, 1988). Organizational m...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1999.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=730829171&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | Divergent thinking is an integral process in creativity; indeed, the terms are often used synonymously. Although divergent thinking processes are difficult to directly observe and assess, these processes are essential to and manifested in creative ideas and products (Amabile, 1988). Organizational members vary in the amount of divergent thinking they engage in, and the purpose of this study is to examine some of the personal and situational determinants of divergent thinking and creativity in organizations. Openness to experience is a personality trait that relates to divergent thinking (McCrae, 1987) and, therefore, is expected to be related to creative performance in organizations. The effects of openness to experience are likely to be partially mediated by an individual's attitude toward divergent thinking. Not all organizational members care to engage in divergent thinking, and researchers have asserted that negative attitudes toward divergent thinking are an impediment to individual creativity in organizations. However, the empirical link between one's attitude toward divergent thinking and one's creative performance has yet to be demonstrated. In addition to being influenced by openness to experience, one's attitude toward divergent thinking is likely to be influenced by one's supervisor's attitude. Through social influence processes in organizations, supervisors' attitudes can affect their subordinates' attitudes. Moreover, the amount of structure supervisors initiate for their subordinates is likely to have a direct, negative relationship to subordinates' divergent thinking, and may also affect divergent thinking indirectly by influencing subordinates' attitudes toward divergent thinking. A model of personality, attitude, and leader influences on divergent thinking and creativity is presented and empirically tested with survey data from supervisors and their subordinates working in nonacademic functions of a large university. Results are generally supportive of the hypotheses. Openness to experience and attitude toward divergent thinking are positively associated with employees' creative performance. In addition, some support is provided for a negative relationship between initiating structure and subordinates' attitudes toward divergent thinking and creative performance. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Management". |
| Physical Description: | xi, 125 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-105). |