SELLING OUT: HOW IMPRESSIONS OF MATERIALISM INFLUENCE CREATIVE EVALUATIONS AND PERFORMANCE

The value of creativity continues to increase in organizations, but how does an association with money influence judgments of creativity? Drawing on prototype theory, I propose that the misfit between the values espoused by the creative prototype and materialism results in a bias such that materialistic individuals are judged to be less creative. In Studies 1 and 2, materialistic individuals were evaluated as being less creative than non- materialistic individuals despite holding objective creativity constant. In Study 3, individuals manipulated to feel more materialistic performed less creatively than their non-materialistic counterparts. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.