PC workplace boosts creativity in male-female teams

Political correctness - loathed by some as censorship awash in leftist philosophy - actually boosts the creativity of mixed-sex work teams, according to new research. If you think Americans are pushed to speak the language of close-minded social idealists at the expense of free speech, new research led by a Cornell ILR School professor might make you cringe. Findings published in Administrative Science Quarterly show political correctness doesn't crush creativity and fuels idea sharing. "Our work challenges the widespread assumption that true creativity requires a kind of anarchy in which people are permitted to speak their minds, whatever the consequence," said Jack Goncalo, associate professor of organizational behavior in the ILR School. For the increasingly diverse workplace, the research justifies political correctness beyond moral grounds as a practical foundation for creativity and potential profit-making, he said. In two experiments with 582 participants, groups of three were randomly instructed to be "politically correct" or "polite." Some groups didn't receive any instructions. All were then asked to spend 10 minutes brainstorming business ideas.