Framing for creativity: The impact of framing a task for gains and losses on risk perceptions and creative performance

This study examined the role of context in an individual's creative performance on a task. 231 undergraduate students participated in a lab experiment to assess the role of task framing on creative performance. A modified version of Antes and Mumford's (2010) creativity in-basket was used, with either a gain or loss-framed manipulation. It was hypothesized that a mediated moderation would occur where self-efficacy moderated the mediation of risk perceptions on the impact of framing on creative performance. However, the results indicated that while framing predicted both risk and creativity, risk was not correlated with creativity, and thus no mediation occurred. A number of explanations are provided for these findings.