CentER

Arnoud J. de Vet

Abstract:
This dissertation consists of three empirical studies on the effects of thinking in silence on creativity and innovation. In these studies he uses a social psychology and cognitive psychology lens to study creativity and innovation at the individual and at the team level of analysis, using randomized experiments to test hypotheses. In the first study he finds that when the ability to modify self-presentation is low and the sensitivity to expressive behavior of others is high, thinking in silence has a positive impact on individual creativity. In the second study, he theorizes and finds supportive evidence that the creativity of groups can be enhanced by punctuating group debate with a short intermezzo for thinking in silence, especially if there is at least one team member with relatively low extraversion. In the last study, he shifts focus from creativity (idea generation) to idea selection and finds that thinking in silence (as opposed to group debate) leads to more decisions in favor of radical innovations, when the team's average ability to modify self-presentation is low. If the latter is high, thinking in silence leads to more decisions in favor of incremental innovations. Across the studies, he finds that in specifically defined situations thinking in silence has a positive effect on creativity and (radical) innovation. In specific other situations, the effect is neutral or even negative.

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