Creativity and Task Perception 

Abstract

This paper explores how individuals perceive open versus closed tasks in creative contexts and how this perception influences their choice between these tasks. We find that perceptions of task openness align with existing assumptions in the creativity literature regarding goal clarity and the freedom to explore. Additionally, we show that the likelihood of choosing an open task increases with the perceived freedom to explore, while it decreases with goal clarity, particularly when incentives are present. The effects of self-selection on creative performance are then investigated.

Keywords: creativity, openness, perception, constraints, self-selection

JEL Classification: C91, D91, O31