{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/110423"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/110423","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"The cost of new ideas","abstract":"Existing research provides extensive advice on how firms can stimulate the generation of ideas, but there is limited research on the potential psychological consequences of idea generation and brainstorming for the people who actively engage in this process. Moreover, theories of counterfactual thinking and comparative evaluation, lead to competing predictions about the downstream consequences of idea generation. Some perspectives would suggest idea generation should lead to an increase in satisfaction with the status quo, while others suggest the opposite. In this paper, I empirically reconcile these competing perspectives to propose that new ideas can serve as upward counterfactuals to experiences, possessions, or organizations, which then make those experiences, possessions, or organizations seem worse by comparison. I conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for future research on the consequences of idea generation.","abstract_html":"Existing research provides extensive advice on how firms can stimulate the generation of ideas, but there is limited research on the potential psychological consequences of idea generation and brainstorming for the people who actively engage in this process. Moreover, theories of counterfactual thinking and comparative evaluation, lead to competing predictions about the downstream consequences of idea generation. Some perspectives would suggest idea generation should lead to an increase in satisfaction with the status quo, while others suggest the opposite. In this paper, I empirically reconcile these competing perspectives to propose that new ideas can serve as upward counterfactuals to experiences, possessions, or organizations, which then make those experiences, possessions, or organizations seem worse by comparison. I conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for future research on the consequences of idea generation.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Katz, Joshua H"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Business Administration","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Goncalo, Jack","Loewenstein, Jeffrey","Lewin Loyd, Denise","Ferguson, Melissa"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-09-17T01:10:37Z","date_published":"2021-09-17T01:10:37Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:50Z","subjects":["Creativity, Evaluation"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2021 Joshua Katz"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110423","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Goncalo, Jack","Loewenstein, Jeffrey","Lewin Loyd, Denise","Ferguson, Melissa"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Katz, Joshua H"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2021-09-17T01:10:37Z","2021-03-25","2021-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Business Administration"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Creativity, Evaluation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2021 Joshua Katz"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110423"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Existing research provides extensive advice on how firms can stimulate the generation of ideas, but there is limited research on the potential psychological consequences of idea generation and brainstorming for the people who actively engage in this process. Moreover, theories of counterfactual thinking and comparative evaluation, lead to competing predictions about the downstream consequences of idea generation. Some perspectives would suggest idea generation should lead to an increase in satisfaction with the status quo, while others suggest the opposite. In this paper, I empirically reconcile these competing perspectives to propose that new ideas can serve as upward counterfactuals to experiences, possessions, or organizations, which then make those experiences, possessions, or organizations seem worse by comparison. I conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for future research on the consequences of idea generation.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. 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Moreover, theories of counterfactual thinking and comparative evaluation, lead to competing predictions about the downstream consequences of idea generation. Some perspectives would suggest idea generation should lead to an increase in satisfaction with the status quo, while others suggest the opposite. In this paper, I empirically reconcile these competing perspectives to propose that new ideas can serve as upward counterfactuals to experiences, possessions, or organizations, which then make those experiences, possessions, or organizations seem worse by comparison. I conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for future research on the consequences of idea generation.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. 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