Pinar Celik

Typing Speed as a Confounding Variable and the Measurement of Quality in Divergent Thinking

The need to control for writing or typing speed when assessing divergent-thinking performance has been recognized since the early ‘90s. An even longer tradition in divergent-thinking research has the issue of scoring the responses for quality. This research addressed both issues within structural equation modeling. Three dimensions of originality—uncommonness, remoteness, and cleverness—were used to derive an overall quality score. Mixed evidence was found in Study 1 for the direct effect of typing speed on fluency. In addition, indirect effects of typing speed via cognitive complexity on overall quality of ideas were uncovered but marginal in both Study 1 and Study 2. This indirect effect was also found for cleverness in Study 2. Another indirect effects of typing speed via fluency was found for cleverness and uncommonness. These findings indicate that controlling for typing speed is important in online divergent-thinking assessment. The inter-relations of various quality scores pertaining to the dimensions of uncommonness, remoteness, and cleverness were promising in terms of convergent validity. Important problems with respect to these scores were identified and discussed to guide future attempts to measure quality in DT.

Work-related curiosity positively predicts worker innovation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual work-related curiosity and worker innovation and to test the mediating role of worker divergent thinking. Design/methodology/approach In all, 480 participants, holding 188 different jobs, filled in a validated work-related curiosity scale and indicated their job title. Job requirements in terms of divergent thinking and innovation − derived from the Online Information Network (O*NET) database − were used as proxies for divergent thinking and innovation skills. Findings Results indicated that individual work-related curiosity was a positive predictor of worker innovation and that worker divergent thinking mediated this relationship. Research limitations/implications Individual work-related curiosity supports exploratory skills which support in turn innovation skills. Practical implications Managers could use individual work-related curiosity as a predictor of innovation skills when recruiting, training and guiding employees. Originality/value This study is the first to show an association between individual work-related curiosity and innovation skills across more than 150 different jobs.

When East Meets West

In this chapter we review literature on Western and Eastern conceptions of creativity, and we differentiate between ‘vertical’ creativity conceptions that are process-oriented, from ‘horizontal’ creativity conceptions focused on novelty and rupture. In the second part of this chapter, we investigate the possible effects of cultures on creative potential through the impact that different cultural conceptions have on cognitive and conative characteristics of their members. We offer a discussion on possible commonalities between these contrasting views on creativity, which may help creativity researchers around the world to come to a common, pan-cultural understanding regarding creativity. In the last part of this chapter, we note that there is more and more multicultural exposure through digital media and other globalization processes, and we propose a new focus that emphasizes the cultural diversity in our contemporary world—in which East really meets West—as a construct that might be more relevant than the traditional opposition between East and West.

Career Decision Ambiguity Tolerance and Career Decision-Making Difficulties in a French Sample: The Mediating Role of Career Decision Self-Efficacy

In the current work, we investigated the relationship between career decision ambiguity tolerance (CDAT) and career decision-making difficulties among French-speaking university students. In a preliminary validation study (N = 246), we examined the psychometric properties of the CDAT Scale. Our results showed that the French CDAT Scale had satisfactory levels of scale score reliability, that its factor structure was consistent with the original three-factor structure, and that it had incremental predictive power over general ambiguity tolerance when predicting career decision self-efficacy and career adaptability. In a second study (N = 412), building on social cognitive career theory, we hypothesized that career decision self-efficacy mediates the relationship between CDAT and career decision-making difficulties. Results were consistent with our hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

The Effect of Forced Language Switching during Divergent Thinking: A Study on Bilinguals’ Originality of Ideas

In the present study we experimentally manipulated language switching among bilinguals who indicated to be more or less habitual language switchers in daily life. Our aim was to investigate the impact of forced language switching on originality of produced ideas during divergent thinking, conditional on the level of habitual language switching. A sample of bilinguals was randomly assigned to perform alternate uses tasks (AUT’s), which explicitly required them to either switch languages, or to use only one language while performing the tasks. We found that those who were instructed to switch languages during the AUT’s were able to generate ideas that were on average more original, than those who were instructed to use only one language during the AUT’s, but only at higher levels of habitual language switching. At low levels of habitual language switching, the effect reversed, and participants who were instructed to use only one language found ideas that were on average more original, than participants who were required to switch languages during the AUT’s. Implications and limitations are discussed.