Which idea to pursue? Gender differences in novelty avoidance during creative work

Despite women having made significant progress in the modern workforce, gender gaps are still evident in creative work. In this paper, we propose that, although women and men are equally capable of generating creative ideas, gender differences emerge during the idea-selection stage. Specifically, co...

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Main Authors: JIN, Mengzi, CHUA, Roy Y. J.
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7498
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spelling sg-smu-ink.lkcsb_research-84972024-05-30T07:06:03Z Which idea to pursue? Gender differences in novelty avoidance during creative work JIN, Mengzi CHUA, Roy Y. J. Despite women having made significant progress in the modern workforce, gender gaps are still evident in creative work. In this paper, we propose that, although women and men are equally capable of generating creative ideas, gender differences emerge during the idea-selection stage. Specifically, compared with men, women engage in higher novelty avoidance during idea selection—the degree to which one selects an idea that is less novel than the most novel idea one has generated. In two laboratory studies and a field survey involving creative professionals, we found significant gender differences in novelty avoidance during idea selection and identified women’s concerns about social backlash when pursuing highly novel ideas as one explanatory variable. We also experimentally manipulated gender compositions of the evaluation panel and found that women’s novelty avoidance tendency during idea selection was reduced when they were informed about the presence of women evaluators. Finally, novelty avoidance during idea selection has an inverted U-shaped relationship with idea success; because women tend to engage in higher novelty avoidance than men, novelty avoidance in women (but not men) has a negative impact on the success of their ideas. By examining gender dynamics at specific stages, our work offers theoretical and practical insights regarding gender disparities in creative work. 2024-04-10T07:00:00Z text https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7498 info:doi/10.1287/orsc.2022.16176 Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Organizational diversity gender inequality creativity idea selection Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Organizational Behavior and Theory
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Organizational diversity
gender inequality
creativity
idea selection
Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication
Organizational Behavior and Theory
spellingShingle Organizational diversity
gender inequality
creativity
idea selection
Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication
Organizational Behavior and Theory
JIN, Mengzi
CHUA, Roy Y. J.
Which idea to pursue? Gender differences in novelty avoidance during creative work
description Despite women having made significant progress in the modern workforce, gender gaps are still evident in creative work. In this paper, we propose that, although women and men are equally capable of generating creative ideas, gender differences emerge during the idea-selection stage. Specifically, compared with men, women engage in higher novelty avoidance during idea selection—the degree to which one selects an idea that is less novel than the most novel idea one has generated. In two laboratory studies and a field survey involving creative professionals, we found significant gender differences in novelty avoidance during idea selection and identified women’s concerns about social backlash when pursuing highly novel ideas as one explanatory variable. We also experimentally manipulated gender compositions of the evaluation panel and found that women’s novelty avoidance tendency during idea selection was reduced when they were informed about the presence of women evaluators. Finally, novelty avoidance during idea selection has an inverted U-shaped relationship with idea success; because women tend to engage in higher novelty avoidance than men, novelty avoidance in women (but not men) has a negative impact on the success of their ideas. By examining gender dynamics at specific stages, our work offers theoretical and practical insights regarding gender disparities in creative work.
format text
author JIN, Mengzi
CHUA, Roy Y. J.
author_facet JIN, Mengzi
CHUA, Roy Y. J.
author_sort JIN, Mengzi
title Which idea to pursue? Gender differences in novelty avoidance during creative work
title_short Which idea to pursue? Gender differences in novelty avoidance during creative work
title_full Which idea to pursue? Gender differences in novelty avoidance during creative work
title_fullStr Which idea to pursue? Gender differences in novelty avoidance during creative work
title_full_unstemmed Which idea to pursue? Gender differences in novelty avoidance during creative work
title_sort which idea to pursue? gender differences in novelty avoidance during creative work
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2024
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7498
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