title: How Multiple Social Identities Are Related to Creativity.
abstract: The present research examined whether possessing multiple social identities (i.e., groups relevant to one's sense of self) is associated with creativity. In Study 1, the more identities individuals reported having, the more names they generated for a new commercial product (i.e., greater idea fluency). In Study 2, multiple identities were associated with greater fluency and originality (mediated by cognitive flexibility, but not by persistence). Study 3 validated these findings using a highly powered sample. We again found that multiple identities increase fluency and originality, and that flexibility (but not persistence) mediated the effect on originality. Study 3 also ruled out several alternative explanations (self-affirmation, novelty seeking, and generalized persistence). Across all studies, the findings were robust to controlling for personality, and there was no evidence of a curvilinear relationship between multiple identities and creativity. These results suggest that possessing multiple social identities is associated with enhanced creativity via cognitive flexibility.
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia N.Steffens@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Niklas K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Steffens
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands University of Rochester, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Małgorzata A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gocłowska
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Tegan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cruwys
authors.affiliation: Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Adam D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Galinsky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D003405:Creativity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: creativity; fluency; identity; self-categorization; social identity