Do you believe Red Bull gives wings? When implicit theories of creativity impair creative performance

Abstract

Everyone seems to have something to say about creativity, thus participating in the reproduction of persistent myths about creativity that may influence creative behaviour. This research explores the influence of Laypeople's Implicit Theories of Creativity (LIToCs) regarding the drivers of creativity on creative performance, to ascertain whether having strong convictions about the drivers of creativity either enhances or hinders creative productivity when these convictions align with the actual methods of stimulating creativity. An experiment randomly involved 69 subjects who were invited to drink the exact same fruit juice before performing a creative task. In one condition, they were told this was indeed juice; in the other condition, they were told that it was mixed with Red Bull. Analyses showed an interaction effect with the subjects' LIToC, such that among subjects displaying strong LIToC, individual creative performance was lower when they perceived the conditions to stimulate creativity were activated, than otherwise. These results suggest that having strong beliefs in the effects of some creativity drivers might then trigger a complacent attitude and reduce the invested effort in generating creative ideas. This research contributes to rethinking how we use specific drivers to stimulate creativity, as strong LIToCs about those drivers may have a counterproductive effect on creative performance.