IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp/v164y2021icp158-178.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Divine inhibition: Does thinking about God make monotheistic believers less creative?

Author

Listed:
  • Krause, Verena
  • Goncalo, Jack A.
  • Tadmor, Carmit T.

Abstract

As individuals are given wider latitude to openly practice and express their faith at work, it is likely that believers will spend at least part of their working life actively thinking about God. Yet, despite the central role that belief in God plays in people’s lives, research has given little attention to the impact of actively thinking about God on task performance. The current research investigates the relationship between monotheistic believers’ thinking about God and creativity. We conducted six studies using different populations, mixed methods and complementary measures of creativity. Our results, as well as meta-analyses of our experimental data, provide converging evidence that believers are less creative than non-believers and this effect is strengthened when they are actively thinking about God. Thinking about God activates the mindset of passive followership which inhibits the creativity of believers. We discuss potential implications for future research on religiosity, creativity and followership.

Suggested Citation

  • Krause, Verena & Goncalo, Jack A. & Tadmor, Carmit T., 2021. "Divine inhibition: Does thinking about God make monotheistic believers less creative?," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 158-178.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:164:y:2021:i:c:p:158-178
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.03.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597821000315
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.03.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huang, Li & Gino, Francesca & Galinsky, Adam D., 2015. "The highest form of intelligence: Sarcasm increases creativity for both expressers and recipients," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 162-177.
    2. A. M. C. Waterman, 2017. "On the Relation between Economics and Religion," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 2, pages 197-212, June.
    3. Violina P. Rindova & Antoaneta P. Petkova, 2007. "When Is a New Thing a Good Thing? Technological Change, Product Form Design, and Perceptions of Value for Product Innovations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 217-232, April.
    4. Roland Bénabou & Davide Ticchi & Andrea Vindigni, 2015. "Religion and Innovation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 346-351, May.
    5. Michael Fritsch & Viktor Slavtchev, 2007. "Universities and Innovation in Space," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 201-218.
    6. Zoltan J. Acs & Luc Anselin & Attila Varga, 2008. "Patents and Innovation Counts as Measures of Regional Production of New Knowledge," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 11, pages 135-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Goncalo, Jack A. & Staw, Barry M., 2006. "Individualism-collectivism and group creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 96-109, May.
    8. Edwin Mansfield, 1986. "Patents and Innovation: An Empirical Study," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(2), pages 173-181, February.
    9. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci, 2012. "Education or Creativity: What Matters Most for Economic Performance?," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 88(4), pages 369-401, October.
    10. Jiing-Lih Farh & Bor-Shiuan Cheng, 2000. "A Cultural Analysis of Paternalistic Leadership in Chinese Organizations," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: J. T. Li & Anne S. Tsui & Elizabeth Weldon (ed.), Management and Organizations in the Chinese Context, chapter 4, pages 84-127, Palgrave Macmillan.
    11. Becker, Sascha O. & Nagler, Markus & Wößmann, Ludger, 2017. "Education and religious participation," Munich Reprints in Economics 49880, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    12. Paulus, Paul B. & Yang, Huei-Chuan, 2000. "Idea Generation in Groups: A Basis for Creativity in Organizations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 76-87, May.
    13. John Antonakis & Nicolas Bastardoz & Philippe Jacquart & Boas Shamir, 2016. "Charisma : An Ill-Defined and Ill-Measured Gift," Post-Print hal-02313343, HAL.
    14. Benjamin F. Jones, 2010. "Age and Great Invention," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 1-14, February.
    15. Pino G. Audia & Jack A. Goncalo, 2007. "Past Success and Creativity over Time: A Study of Inventors in the Hard Disk Drive Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(1), pages 1-15, January.
    16. Linn Van Dyne & Soon Ang & Isabel C. Botero, 2003. "Conceptualizing Employee Silence and Employee Voice as Multidimensional Constructs," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(6), pages 1359-1392, September.
    17. Goncalo, Jack A. & Duguid, Michelle M., 2012. "Follow the crowd in a new direction: When conformity pressure facilitates group creativity (and when it does not)," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 14-23.
    18. Suzanne Chan-Serafin & Arthur P. Brief & Jennifer M. George, 2013. "PERSPECTIVE —How Does Religion Matter and Why? Religion and the Organizational Sciences," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1585-1600, October.
    19. Miron-Spektor, Ella & Gino, Francesca & Argote, Linda, 2011. "Paradoxical frames and creative sparks: Enhancing individual creativity through conflict and integration," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 229-240.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Arend, Richard J., 2023. "Integrating entrepreneurial and spiritual identities under uncertainty," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    2. Ellis, Lillien M., 2022. "The interpersonal consequences of stealing ideas: Worse character judgments and less co-worker support for an idea (vs. money) thief," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arntz, Melanie & Gregory, Terry, 2014. "What old stagers could teach us: Examining age complementarities in regional innovation systems," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-050, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Zhu, Lily Yuxuan & Bauman, Christopher W. & Young, Maia J, 2023. "Unlocking creative potential: Reappraising emotional events facilitates creativity for conventional thinkers," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    3. Goncalo, Jack A. & Duguid, Michelle M., 2008. "Hidden consequences of the group-serving bias: Causal attributions and the quality of group decision making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 219-233, November.
    4. Balland, Pierre-Alexandre & Boschma, Ron, 2022. "Do scientific capabilities in specific domains matter for technological diversification in European regions?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    5. Michael Fritsch & Viktor Slavtchev, 2007. "What determines the efficiency of regional innovation systems?," Jena Economics Research Papers 2007-006, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    6. Tammy L. Madsen & Michael J. Leiblein, 2015. "What Factors Affect the Persistence of an Innovation Advantage?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(8), pages 1097-1127, December.
    7. Cristian Barra & Nazzareno Ruggiero, 2022. "On the impact of knowledge and institutional spillovers on RIS efficiency. Evidence from Italian regional level," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 702-752, June.
    8. Quatraro, Francesco & Scandura, Alessandra, 2020. "Regional patterns of unrelated technological diversification: the role of academic inventors," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 202001, University of Turin.
    9. Raffaele Paci & Emanuela Marrocu, 2014. "Tourism and regional growth in Europe," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93, pages 25-50, November.
    10. Rieger, Verena & Klarmann, Martin, 2022. "The effect of cooperative team culture on innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1256-1271.
    11. Christ, Julian P., 2009. "The geography and co-location of European technology-specific co-inventorship networks," Violette Reihe: Schriftenreihe des Promotionsschwerpunkts "Globalisierung und Beschäftigung" 31/2010, University of Hohenheim, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Evangelisches Studienwerk.
    12. Paola Rucker Schaeffer & Bruno Fischer & Sergio Queiroz, 2018. "Beyond Education: The Role of Research Universities in Innovation Ecosystems," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 12(2), pages 50-61.
    13. Riccardo Crescenzi & Alexander Jaax, 2017. "Innovation in Russia: The Territorial Dimension," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 93(1), pages 66-88, January.
    14. Matthias Siller & Christoph Hauser & Janette Walde & Gottfried Tappeiner, 2015. "Measuring regional innovation in one dimension: More lost than gained?," Working Papers 2015-14, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    15. Nemeth, Charlan Jeanne, 2010. "Minority Influence Theory," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt1pz676t7, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    16. Xu, Lidan & Mehta, Ravi & Hoegg, JoAndrea, 2022. "Sweet ideas: How the sensory experience of sweetness impacts creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    17. Raffaele Paci & Emanuela Marrocu, 2013. "Knowledge Assets and Regional Performance," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 228-257, June.
    18. Mauro L. Ghinamo, 2012. "Explaining The Variation In The Empirical Estimates Of Academic Knowledge Spillovers," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 606-634, October.
    19. Tom Broekel & Thomas Brenner, 2011. "Regional factors and innovativeness: an empirical analysis of four German industries," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 47(1), pages 169-194, August.
    20. Michael Fritsch & Viktor Slavtchev, 2010. "How does industry specialization affect the efficiency of regional innovation systems?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 45(1), pages 87-108, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:164:y:2021:i:c:p:158-178. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.