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Creativity and cognitive skills among millenials: thinking too much and creating too little

Brice, Corgnet; Esp�n, Antonio M.; Hernan-Gonzalez, Roberto

Authors

Corgnet Brice

Antonio M. Esp�n

Roberto Hernan-Gonzalez



Abstract

Organizations crucially need the creative talent of millennials but are reluctant to hire them because of their supposed lack of diligence. Recent studies have shown that hiring diligent millennials requires selecting those who score high on the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) and thus rely on effortful thinking rather than intuition. A central question is to assess whether the push for recruiting diligent millennials using criteria such as cognitive reflection can ultimately hamper the recruitment of creative workers. To answer this question, we study the relationship between millennials’ creativity and their performance on fluid intelligence (Raven) and cognitive reflection (CRT) tests. The good news for recruiters is that we report, in line with previous research, evidence of a positive relationship of fluid intelligence, and to a lesser extent cognitive reflection, with convergent creative thinking. In addition, we observe a positive effect of fluid intelligence on originality and elaboration measures of divergent creative thinking. The bad news for recruiters is the inverted U-shape relationship between cognitive reflection and fluency and flexibility measures of divergent creative thinking. This suggests that thinking too much may hinder important dimensions of creative thinking. Diligent and creative workers may thus be a rare find.

Citation

Brice, C., Espín, A. M., & Hernan-Gonzalez, R. (2016). Creativity and cognitive skills among millenials: thinking too much and creating too little. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01626

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 5, 2016
Publication Date Oct 25, 2016
Deposit Date Dec 2, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Frontiers in Psychology
Electronic ISSN 1664-1078
Publisher Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 7
DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01626
Keywords Creativity; Cognitive reflection; Intelligence; Cognition; Intuition
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/821640
Publisher URL http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01626/full
Additional Information This Document is Protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. it is reproduced with permission

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