Motivated team innovation: Impact of need for closure and epistemic authority

Abstract

New members are important sources of innovative perspectives in groups. However, it can be very difficult for newcomers’ ideas to be heard. It is likely that group members with high (vs. low) levels of need for closure (NFC) are more resistant to newcomers’ innovative ideas. Moreover, when group epistemic authority (EA) is high, members should “freeze” on the group’s ideas, regardless of the newcomer’s EA. In contrast, when group EA is low, members would be expected to “seize” the ideas proposed by newcomers with high EA. Study 1 confirmed that high (vs. low) NFC group members are more resistant to newcomers’ innovative ideas. In Study 2, in high NFC groups, evidence was obtained for seizing but not freezing. In Study 3, for group members with heightened NFC, both freezing and seizing results were obtained. Findings suggest that both NFC and EA play important roles in receptivity to newcomers’ ideas.

Need for Closure, Morality, and Prejudice

“…This situation should be similar to the condition of low AAC when high NFC is associated with positive attitudes toward the out-groups (e.g., Kossowska et al, 2015). Such position is similar also to what some authors called “humility,” that is, when high NFC individuals lack confidence in their group and engage in additional information seeking from others (Kruglanski et al, 1991; Pica et al, 2021; Theodorou et al, in press).…”

“…Here, in the condition of in-group inferiority, high NFC individuals differ less from low NFC individuals in the degree of prejudice reported. As mentioned, this second condition can be seen for high NFC individuals as a sort of suspension of closure, allowing some kind of humility toward the other group (Pica et al, 2021; Theodorou et al, in press). In addition, both groups (high and low NFC) continue to show a certain level of prejudice even in the condition of out-group moral superiority, which is in line with the SIT.…”