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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
06:42

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

Published on: September 28, 2018

Suspicious spirits, flexible minds: when distrust enhances creativity.

Jennifer Mayer1, Thomas Mussweiler

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. jennifer.mayer@uni-koeln.de

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|July 13, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Distrust hinders creativity in public settings but enhances it in private by promoting flexible thinking. This study reveals distrust

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 31, 2026

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
06:42

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

Published on: September 28, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Distrust is often perceived as detrimental to creativity due to reduced information sharing.
  • However, distrust may also foster creative cognition by encouraging exploration of non-obvious alternatives.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the dual effects of distrust on creativity, considering social versus cognitive consequences.
  • To examine the moderating role of private versus public settings on the relationship between distrust and creativity.

Main Methods:

  • Four studies were conducted using subliminal priming and other methods to manipulate distrust.
  • Creative generation tasks were administered in both private and public contexts.
  • Cognitive flexibility was assessed as a potential mediating mechanism.

Main Results:

  • Distrust negatively impacted public creative generation, aligning with social consequences.
  • Distrust positively influenced private creative generation, supporting cognitive consequences.
  • Distrust priming led to increased category inclusiveness and remote semantic spread, indicating enhanced cognitive flexibility.

Conclusions:

  • Distrust can enhance creativity, particularly in private settings, by fostering cognitive flexibility.
  • The impact of distrust on creativity is context-dependent, with social and cognitive effects diverging.
  • Cognitive flexibility emerges as a key mechanism underlying the creativity-enhancing potential of distrust.