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February 27, 2015 Hate “PC” Speech Restrictions? They May Boost Teams’ Creativity In an experiment involving three-person teams of undergraduates, mixed-sex groups came up with 40% fewer ideas for starting a new business than same-sex groups, but the difference disappeared if the teams were encouraged to think about the importance of refraining from using sexist language, says a research group led by Jack A. Goncalo of Cornell University. Thus although “political correctness” is often maligned as stifling free speech, in mixed groups it fosters the sharing of novel ideas, the researchers say. SOURCE: Creativity from Constraint? How the Political Correctness Norm Influences Creativity in Mixed-sex Work Groups

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