Much has been written about the liabilities of mind wandering in the workplace. Given its prevalence, however, mind wandering may carry underappreciated benefits—especially with respect to creativity. Examining this possibility, we hypothesize that mind wandering involving imaginative thoughts, also known as “daydreams,” has the potential to spur creativity. We develop a theoretical model in which we examine two facets of daydreams based on their content: problem-oriented daydreams and bizarre daydreams. In addition, we specify an antecedent condition that produces such daydreams (cognitively demanding work; Studies 1 & 2), as well as a boundary condition of the effects of daydreaming on creativity (professional identification; Study 2). Taken together, the studies reported here largely support our theoretical model. Cognitive demanding work reliably elicits both facets of daydreams. However, only problem-oriented daydreams relate to creativity directly; the relationship between bizarre daydreams and creativity is entirely dependent on professional identification. In addition, we observe negative relationships between both facets of daydreams and performance more generally when employees lack professional identification (Study 2). Our results indicate that among professionally identified individuals, daydreaming carries noteworthy benefits for creativity but also that daydreaming can impair performance in the absence of identification.

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分区还是突破？将白日梦与工作场所的创造力联系起来

已经有很多关于在工作场所走神的责任的文章。然而，考虑到它的普遍性，走神可能带来未被充分认识的好处——尤其是在创造力方面。研究这种可能性后，我们假设思维游荡涉及富有想象力的想法，也称为“白日梦”，具有激发创造力的潜力。我们开发了一个理论模型，在该模型中，我们根据白日梦的内容检查了白日梦的两个方面：以问题为导向的白日梦和奇异的白日梦。此外，我们指定了产生这种白日梦的先行条件（认知要求高的工作；研究 1 和 2），以及白日梦对创造力影响的边界条件（职业认同；研究 2）。总之，这里报告的研究在很大程度上支持了我们的理论模型。认知要求高的工作可靠地引发了白日梦的两个方面。然而，只有以问题为导向的白日梦与创造力直接相关；离奇的白日梦和创造力之间的关系完全取决于职业认同。此外，当员工缺乏专业认同时，我们更普遍地观察到白日梦和绩效之间的负面关系（研究 2）。我们的结果表明，在专业认同的个人中，白日梦对创造力有显着的好处，但白日梦在缺乏认同的情况下会损害表现。此外，当员工缺乏专业认同时，我们更普遍地观察到白日梦和绩效之间的负面关系（研究 2）。我们的结果表明，在专业认同的个人中，白日梦对创造力有显着的好处，但白日梦在缺乏认同的情况下会损害表现。此外，当员工缺乏专业认同时，我们更普遍地观察到白日梦和绩效之间的负面关系（研究 2）。我们的结果表明，在专业认同的个人中，白日梦对创造力有显着的好处，但白日梦在缺乏认同的情况下会损害表现。