Creativity for the Group: Distinctive Feminists Engage in Divergent Thinking When Acting on Behalf of Women

J. A. van Breen, M. A. Gocłowska, S. de Lemus, M. Baas, B. Kelleci, R. Spears

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (SciVal)
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Abstract

For feminists, a core goal is to promote the interests of women as a group. Across three studies, we examined whether the pursuit of such goals can lead feminists to use more divergent thinking styles. We measured identification with feminists, identification with women, and manipulated the extent to which a divergent thinking task was congruent with the goal of promoting women’s interests. Results showed that—when given the opportunity to promote the interests of women—feminist identification was associated with greater divergent thinking. This effect was observed only in feminists who identified less strongly with women as a group (“distinctive feminists”). We conclude that distinctive feminists draw on divergent thinking to promote the interests of women as a group.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)461-470
Number of pages10
JournalSocial Psychological and Personality Science
Volume12
Issue number4
Early online date24 Jun 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2021

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (AEI/FEDER, UE; grant no. PSI2016-79971-P) and by a Marie-Curie fellowship from the European Commission (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF, 622331, CREA.TA).

Keywords

  • creativity
  • divergent thinking
  • empowerment
  • feminist identification
  • goal pursuit

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology

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