Power and Creativity: Creative vs. Non-creative Environment

Abstract

Recent research shows that possessing power has effects on creativity. Past experiments manipulate power through priming; in this experiment we used actual social situations to manipulate power. We proposed that high power individuals are more creative in a non-creative setting compared to low power individuals, due to their focus on internal cues. This was not the case, no significant differences in creativity scores were found. We also proposed high power individuals would be less creative in a creative setting compared to low power individuals. Our experiment did not find a difference in creativity scores for the creative setting. An independent measurement of creativity was used in contrast to earlier research on power and creativity. We elaborate on measuring power, creativity and the methods and findings of the study.