ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R
主办:中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理科学进展 ›› 2024, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (12): 1961-1979.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.01961

• 研究构想 • 上一篇    下一篇

夙敌之争影响决策者创新识别的双刃剑效应及其认知深度和广度机制

白新文1,2, 齐舒婷3,4, 王琢钧1,2, 任思羽1,2, 孙文1,2   

  1. 1中国科学院心理研究所行为科学重点实验室, 北京 100101;
    2中国科学院大学心理学系, 北京 100049;
    3中国民生银行博士后科研工作站, 北京 100031;
    4中国政法大学商学院, 北京 100088
  • 收稿日期:2024-01-07 出版日期:2024-12-15 发布日期:2024-09-24
  • 通讯作者: 白新文, E-mail: baixw@psych.ac.cn
  • 基金资助:
    * 国家自然科学基金项目(72371238; 71871214)资助

The double-edged sword effect of rivalry on decision-makers’ creativity recognition: An information processing perspective

BAI Xinwen1,2, QI Shuting3,4, WANG Zhuojun1,2, REN Siyu1,2, SUN Wen1,2   

  1. 1 Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
    2 Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 10049, China;
    3 Post-Doctoral Research Center of China Minsheng Bank, Beijing 100031, China;
    4 School of Business, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing 100088, China
  • Received:2024-01-07 Online:2024-12-15 Published:2024-09-24

摘要: 面对激烈竞争, 决策者能否准确识别出符合企业需求的创新方案, 关系到企业的存亡和发展。决策者的创新识别已成为组织创造力和创新研究的重点议题。然而, 创新识别的已有研究忽略了决策者之间竞争因素的重要影响, 无法全面揭示决策者的认知偏差及导致偏差的内在机制。企业创新过程中, 决策者常常与领域接近、实力相当的对手长时间较量, 普通竞争演变为夙敌之争。鉴于此, 本项目基于夙敌之争的理论视角, 探讨决策者间的竞争如何影响双方创新识别的准确性。拟综合采用实验室和现场实验、档案分析等研究手段, 设计4个研究探讨夙敌之争对决策者创新识别的积极和消极影响, 揭示认知加工深度和广度路径的中介作用, 并在决策者-决策者二元结对水平探寻其边界条件。本研究从夙敌间竞争角度切入, 有望更准确地诊断决策者创新识别的偏差以及导致偏差的内在机制, 以帮助决策者更好认识和防范偏差。

关键词: 创造力与创新, 创新识别, 竞争, 夙敌, 领导行为

Abstract:

While leading organizations to engage in innovation, decision-makers constantly face fierce competition from counterparts in other organizations targeting the same markets, clients, suppliers, technologies, and/or regions. To survive and thrive amid intense competition, organizational decision-makers must identify the most promising and creative ideas and allocate limited resources for subsequent innovation stages. Existing research on decision-makers' creativity recognition has primarily focused on the interactions among creators, decision-makers, and the environment, examining how these subsystems collectively influence the ability to recognize truly creative ideas. However, studies have generally focused on a single decision-maker, overlooking the significant role of competition among decision-makers, thereby limiting the explanatory power for real-world phenomena.

It is well-established that decision-makers often perceive each other as rivals when their respective organizations are closely matched and engaged in extended competition. As competition intensifies into rivalry, decision-makers become increasingly motivated to outperform their rivals. Rivalry theory posits that such rivalry can have a double-edged sword impact on decision-makers' effectiveness to identify truly innovative ideas. On one hand, rivalry may incentivize decision-makers to engage in systematic and in-depth analysis of innovation strategies of their own, thereby improving the efficiency and accuracy of creativity recognition. On the other hand, rivalry may induce tunnel vision, leading decision-makers to disproportionately focus on the creative potential of ideas under scrutiny by their rivals, while neglecting those ideas that fall outside their rivals' consideration.

To gain a deeper understanding of the impact of rivalry on creativity recognition, the current study employs a mixed-methods design. Laboratory experiments test the causal relationship between rivalry and decision-makers' recognition efficiency, while field studies examine the external validity of experimental findings in real-world contexts. Specifically, Study 1 utilizes a laboratory experiment to manipulate competition forms and measure the cognitive processing depth and breadth of decision-makers in various competitive environments, investigating rivalry's impact on creativity recognition accuracy. Studies 2 and 3 explore how rivalry influences decision-makers’ creativity recognition through cognitive depth (systematic processing) and cognitive breadth (tunnel vision) pathways. Study 4 validates laboratory findings in real organizational contexts by analyzing mutual fund managers' investment decisions and examining how rivalry relationships among fund managers influence their identification and selection of corporate innovations.

By integrating rivalry theory with the cognitive processing perspective, this study proposes a dual-pathway model to illustrate how rivalry influences decision-makers' creativity recognition. The model posits that rivalry exerts a double-edged sword effect on creativity recognition by affecting the depth and breadth of decision-makers' cognitive processing. Rivalry can catalyze more in-depth systematic processing, thereby enhancing the accuracy of creativity recognition. However, an excessive focus on competition may constrict cognitive breadth, inducing tunnel vision and the potential neglect of highly creative ideas. The principal theoretical contribution of this research lies in introducing the rivalry perspective into the domain of creativity recognition research. By delineating rivalry's effect on the cognitive mechanisms underpinning creativity recognition, our study provides a novel theoretical framework for understanding and improving organizational innovation management. Furthermore, it assists decision-makers in identifying cognitive biases within the innovation decision-making process, thereby facilitating more informed and rational innovation decisions.

Key words: creativity and innovation, creativity recognition, competition, rivalry, leadership

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