ABSTRACT The present study examined how collective paradoxical frame training and intergroup competition influence virtual team creativity. A sample of 159 students collaborated in small groups of 3–4 to complete a creative task. Groups were trained on developing a collective paradoxical frame using images and examples from multicultural (highly conflicting ideas) or single–culture (moderately conflicting ideas) contexts. A control group condition received no exposure or training. Both the multicultural and single culture conditions were further primed with instructions either to compete or not to compete with other groups. The multicultural exposure groups generated more ideas and more original ideas than the single culture exposure or the control condition. Also, groups in the competition condition produced more elaborations than the non‐competition group. Mediation analyses indicated that competition predicted higher fluency and originality indirectly through the mechanism of elaboration. Finally, competition interacted with paradoxical frame training such that the novelty of ideas was highest when groups received multicultural paradoxical framing and were primed to compete, suggesting that competition can unlock the creative potential of a collective paradoxical frame. These findings have implications for designing training programs in the management of virtual teams and educational settings, encouraging the integration of paradoxical framing to promote creative outcomes. Findings further show that intergroup competition can be constructive when it channels effort into deeper elaboration of ideas.
ABSTRACT This study examines how extrinsic motivation influences employee creativity by distinguishing between creativity quantity and creativity quality. Using data from 183 independent employee–manager dyads, we found that extrinsic motivation directly predicted creativity quantity, but not creativity quality. However, extrinsic motivation indirectly predicted both creativity outcomes through employees' engagement in creativity‐relevant processes. Overall, its effect was more pronounced for creativity quantity than for creativity quality. We further found that the relationship between extrinsic motivation and creativity‐relevant processes was stronger when creative problem‐solving requirements were lower or when creative self‐efficacy was higher. These findings contribute to the motivation and creativity literature by clarifying how and when extrinsic motivation supports employee creativity, particularly creativity quantity. They also underscore the importance of a balanced approach that integrates both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational drivers to foster creativity in organizations.
ABSTRACT This study explores the relationship between pretense and the conceptual design process, challenging the traditional view that pretense is exclusive to childhood. Within the framework of affordance‐based design creativity, it argues that affordance‐based pretense can play an important role in conceptual design. By linking pretense to creative thinking in design, the study examines how affordance‐based reinterpretation processes observed in pretend play can inform conceptual design ideation. The research draws conceptual parallels between children's pretend play and the early stages of the design process, where creative problem‐solving relies on reinterpreting forms and generating alternative possibilities. Through a review of existing literature and experimental simulation of an “affordance‐based pretense process” with both design and non‐design students, how pretense—or the ability to “see as if”—affects creative performance during the initial form‐giving phase of design is examined. The findings suggest that affordance‐based reinterpretation supports creative performance and highlight the interaction between cognitive generation and engagement with external design representations during conceptual design. Exploring these relationships, the study contributes to design creativity research by demonstrating how reinterpretation processes derived from children's pretend play can be meaningfully adapted to an adult conceptual design context.
ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to examine the associations between engagement and creative self‐concept among higher education students, considering relationships between variables and the necessary and sufficient configurations of conditions associated with high levels of creative self‐concept. To this end, we employed a hybrid approach based on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) and fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), combining these symmetrical and asymmetrical methods to integrate variable‐centered and configurational perspectives. Participants were 239 final‐year undergraduates (60.5% female, 39.0% male, 0.5% non‐binary) attending a university in northern Spain. Results indicated that cognitive engagement showed the strongest association with creative self‐concept in the PLS‐SEM analysis, whereas no single engagement dimension emerged as a necessary condition. The fsQCA identified two alternative configurations associated with high creative self‐concept: high collaborative learning combined with high cognitive engagement, and high collaborative learning combined with high affective engagement. These findings suggest that cognitive engagement is the most consistently supported correlate of creative self‐concept, while collaborative learning may contribute in combination with different forms of student engagement. From an educational perspective, the results point to the potential value of learning environments that combine cognitive challenge with opportunities for collaboration and positive emotional connection to learning.
ABSTRACT This article examines drug cartels as creative, innovation‐driven organizations rather than solely violent criminal enterprises. Building on creativity research applied to terrorist groups, we use a qualitative case study approach—drawing from news reports, official documents, open‐source materials, and academic work—to analyze 10 cases of cartel innovation across tactical, strategic, and organizational domains. The cases show that cartel innovation is a systematic, adaptive process shaped by constraints, competition, and environmental pressures. Cartel problem‐solving aligns with core phases of the creative process, from identifying problems to generating, testing, and refining solutions. Innovation is further enabled by organizational learning, the recruitment of external talent (such as engineers or trained soldiers), the repurposing of everyday technologies, and diversification into new markets. Enforcement constraints often act as creative catalysts, pushing groups toward more sophisticated adaptations. Integrating creativity and innovation theory into the study of organized crime offers both explanatory and practical value. Viewing cartel tactics as outputs of an underlying innovation system highlights opportunities to disrupt creative processes in the initial stages rather than only reacting to their outcomes. The article concludes by outlining implications for anticipating criminal innovation and suggesting directions for future empirical research on creativity within criminal organizations.
