Thinking outside the box helps build social connections: The role of creative mindsets in reducing daily rudeness

Abstract

Building on perspectives highlighting the social nature of workplace creativity, we argue that being in a creative mindset will highlight the value that co-workers provide to the creative process. This heightened awareness of co-workers as being integral to the creative process increases social closeness with these co-workers, subsequently reducing instigated rudeness towards, as well as perceived rudeness from, those co-workers. In four studies (both in the field as well as in the lab), we find support for these theoretical predictions. Our work also identifies when and for whom these effects are likely to be strongest, indicating that the effect of being in a creative mindset on social closeness is stronger in contexts characterized by high (vs. low) psychological safety, and weaker for employees high (vs. low) in dispositional creativity. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.