Is There a Correlation Between the Level of Group Diversity and the Level of Creativity in the Group?

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between different levels of diversity and group creativity by examining the correlation between individual creativity and group creativity, functional and demographic diversity and group creativity, Big Five domain personality and group creativity, task engagement and group creativity. I also looked at the correlation between all the individual dimensions of diversity (age, sex, race, nationality, Y tenure, educational level, educational background) and group creativity. Given the fact that current creativity studies don’t agree on which diversity dimensions consistently bring about more group creativity this study aims to bring some more clarity. This study hypothesized that in groups high in diversity, where individuals also score high in individual creativity, the team will have the highest creativity score. On the other hand, in teams with a low diversity score or where individual creativity is low, the team will have the lowest group creativity score. Participants were Y employees part of permanent groups. The results showed strong correlations between individual creativity and group creativity. Also, diversity in groups predicted group creativity, with both demographic and functional diversity positively correlated with group creativity. Agreeableness was the only Bid Five personality dimension that was correlated with group creativity and engagement in the task was a strong predictor for group creativity. This study is the first to investigate the relationship between all diversity dimensional and group creativity and to include personality as a factor in the analysis.