Minority dissent, openness to change and group creativity

Abstract

We report the results of a quasi-experimental study that tests the interaction between minority dissent and organizational openness to change on group creativity. In a sample of 199 professionals, organized in 57 groups we have manipulated minority dissent (groups with or without a devil’s advocate) and openness to change (groups were informed that the company they work for IS versus it IS NOT open to change) and evaluated group creativity using two indicators: the creativity quotient and the peer-rated creativity on three dimensions (novelty, feasibility, and usefulness). Our results show that the minority dissent and openness to change have a positive impact on group creativity. However, the interaction effect of minority dissent and openness to change was only supported for peer-rated group creativity, rendering weak support for the moderating role of openness to change.