Creative performance on anin‐basket exercise : Effects of inoculation againstextrinsic reward

Subjects provided creative responses to memoranda from an in‐basket exercise. In a 26 2 design, contingent/noncontingent extrinsic reward conditions were crossed with intrinsic motivation/no intrinsic motivation conditions. Results indicated that intrinsic motivation was associated with improved creativity, while offering contingent, extrinsic rewards were not. Thus, the hypothesized inoculation effect associated with intrinsic motivation was not supported. Results are discussed in terms of specific work history and creativity outcomes, with particular attention focused on defining creativity in the business context (i.e. applied creativity) rather than in more artistic settings (i.e. pure creativity).