Bio

Małgorzata (aka Gosia) Gocłowska is a research fellow in psychology. She looks at social-contextual antecedents of creativity, especially those associated with expectancy-violation and diversifying experiences. She obtained a PhD in from the University of Kent (2011), and an MA from the University of Warsaw (2007).

Between September 2014 and 2016 Gosia divides her time between the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands), and the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY), where she is a visiting scholar in Professor Andy Elliot's lab.

Research

I'm interested in “diversifying experiences” - unusual events that violate expectations - and how these sorts of experiences influence creativity. Specifically, my research looks at reactions to targets that are inconsistent with our stereotypes and schemata. On the one hand, schema- and stereotype-inconsistent targets can be thought of as threatening, and can hurt cognitive performance (e.g., Mendes, Blascovich, Hunter, Lickel, & Jost, 2007). On the other hand, they can inspire more flexible and creative thinking (e.g., Gocłowska, Crisp, & Labuschagne, 2013; Ritter, Damian, Simonton, Van Baaren, Strick, Derks, & Dijksterhuis, 2012). I'm interested in why this occurs, and what factors determine whether stereotype-inconsistent experiences benefit or hinder creative cognition.

In my early studies I’ve been asking participants to think of various counter-stereotypes (e.g., female engineer, a male nurse), and scoring their subsequent creativity. This research provided preliminary evidence that counter-stereotypes can induce more creative cognition (Gocłowska, Crisp, & Labuschagne, 2013). More importantly, we discovered that not everyone reacts the same when faced with counter-stereotypes. For instance need for structure - the extent to which people like to think in  a structured and schematic way (Rietzschel, De Dreu & Nijstad, 2007) – can interfere with the effect of inconsistencies. In one study we asked people to think of a counter-stereotypic female-mechanic (vs. a stereotypic male mechanic), and subsequently generate alternative uses for an everyday object. We found that counter-stereotypes increased the flexibility and originality of ideas, but only in people low in need for structure (Gocłowska & Crisp, 2012).

In most recent research we looked at whether similar effects can be observed with schemata-violating imagery. Using Photoshop, we placed targets in an unexpected (vs. expected) context: e.g., an astronaut standing on the beach, vs. an astronaut standing on the moon. When participants low in need for structure saw the schema-violating targets, creativity increased, however, in participants high in need for structure, creativity was hampered (Gocłowska, Baas, Crisp & De Dreu, 2014).

More recently, we developed a theoretical model explaining how individuals who are counter-stereotypic, become more creative as a result of their dual identity experience (Gocłowska & Crisp, in press).

Research supervision

I will supervise research projects about: (1) diversifying and schema-violating experiences (2) surprise and uncertainty (3) creativity (4) stereotyping, prejudice and social diversity.

Publications

Gocłowska, M. A., & Crisp, R. J. (2014). How Dual Identity Processes Foster Creativity. Review of General Psychology. 18(3), 216-236. 

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Gocłowska, M. A., Baas, M., Crisp, R. J., De Dreu, C. K. W. (2014). Whether social schema violations help or hurt creativity depends on need for structure. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 40(8), 959-971. doi:10.1177/0146167214533132

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Gocłowska, M. A., & Crisp, R. J. (2013). On counter-stereotypes and creative cognition: When interventions for reducing prejudice can boost divergent thinking. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 8, 72–79. doi:10.1016/j.tsc.2012.07.001.

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Gocłowska, M. A., Crisp, R. J., & Labuschagne, K. (2013). Can counter-stereotypes boost flexible thinking? Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 16(2), 217–231. doi:10.1177/1368430212445076 

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Grants and Awards

Marie-Curie International Outgoing Fellowship (2014-2017, University of  Rochester & University of Amsterdam)

Runner up of the SESP Dissertation Award (2012)

Marie-Curie Intra-European Fellowship (2012-2014, University of Amsterdam)

Travel grant from the European Association for Social Psychology (2012)

PhD awarded with no corrections (exceptional in the UK, 2011)

Ideas Factory Grant from Kent Innovation and Enterprise (2011)

Student Enterprise Grant, University of Kent (2012)

Best Talk Award at a PG Research Symposium, University of Kent (2009)

PhD studentship, University of Kent (2007-2010)

MA awarded magna cum laude, University of Warsaw (2007)

ERASMUS mobility studentship, University of Warsaw & KULeuven (2004)

Close Collaborators

• Matthijs Baas

• Richard Crisp

• Carsten De Dreu

• Andrew Elliot

On schema-violations and creativity in the January 2015 edition of "Psychologie Heute": http://www.pressekatalog.de/inhalt/Psychologie_Heute-00001_2015_2000570t.pdf

On schema-violations and creativity in Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201408/seeing-unexpected-things-makes-some-people-more-creative

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