Abstract :
Idea evaluation has, in recent years, received more attention
as a critical component of creative thought. One key influence
on how people evaluate new ideas may be found in the standards,
or attributes, people look for in appraising ideas. The
intent of the present study was to examine the influence of
different attributes on people’s willingness to support new ideas.
Initially undergraduates were asked to generate ideas that might
be funded by a foundation. Based on this material, ideas displaying
different attributes were identified. Another smaller
sample of undergraduates were asked to evaluate ideas for
funding by the foundation. It was found that people preferred
ideas that were easy to understand, provided short-term benefits
to many, and were consistent with prevailing social norms,
while disregarding risky, time consuming, and original ideas.
Original and risky ideas, however, were more likely to be preferred
when evaluation criteria were not especially stringent
and time pressure was high. The implications of these findings
for understanding how people go about evaluating new
ideas are discussed.
