Cogito, Ergo Contraho: Think Big or Think Small? How Construal Level Theory Shapes Creative Agreements

Creativity is a vital element for successful negotiation and positive business outcomes. However, a complete understanding of how different thinking styles shape creative agreements is still developing in research. This study examines how broad and detailed thinking affects the ability to create inventive deals, with a particular focus on construal level theory. While past research has often highlighted abstract thinking as the main way to be creative, this study shows that both abstract and concrete thinking contribute to making creative deals but in different ways. For example, Study 1 looks at how concrete thinking helps in forming creative agreements, tested with 114 undergraduate students in a laboratory experiment. This challenges the common idea that concrete thinking limits new ideas. Study 2 then explores the benefits of thinking that combines different viewpoints, where negotiators can skillfully switch between abstract and concrete ways of thinking, tested with 96 students in another laboratory experiment. Across two experiments, mediation analyses were conducted to examine the hypothesized relationships. Findings indicate that cognitive flexibility-the ability to switch thinking styles-benefits both idea generation and specific problem-solving. This study's implications span negotiation strategies, fostering organizational creativity, and developing flexible thinking approaches for problem-solving.