Group creativity and innovation: a motivated information processing perspective

The authors review the Motivated Information Processing in Groups Model (De Dreu, Nijstad, & Van Knippenberg, 2008) to understand group creativity and innovation. Although distinct phenomena, group creativity and innovation are both considered a function of epistemic motivation (EM; the degree to which group members tend to systematically process and disseminate information), and prosocial motivation (PSM; the extent to which group members seek collective [rather than personal] gain). EM is considered a function of, for example, time constraints, accountability pressures, preference diversity, openness to experience, and ambiguity aversion. PSM is stronger under, for example, participative decision making, shared social identity, and collective reward schemes. A review of the authors' work, and that of others, supports the prediction that group creativity and innovation is higher when group members combine high EM with a PSM. Avenues for new research and practical implications are discussed.