Synergistic Effects of Collaboration and Problem Construction in Creative Problem-Solving: An Experimental Study Comparing Collaborative Work in Three-Person Groups With Individual Work

This study examined whether the effects of problem construction on creative problem-solving differed between individuals and groups. A 2 (collaboration: individual vs. three-person group) × 2 (problem construction: present vs. absent) between-participants experiment was conducted on 175 university students who solved an ill-defined problem. We assessed creative outcomes (solution originality and usefulness) and process measures (fluency and flexibility of problem restatements and ideas). The results revealed that problem construction did not enhance the originality or usefulness of final solutions. However, this increased the number and diversity of generated ideas, particularly in groups. Groups engaging in problem construction produced more problem restatements than individuals. Furthermore, mediation analysis indicated that part of the group advantage in idea fluency was explained by their greater production of problem restatements. These findings suggest that problem construction in groups activates more diverse problem representations, which stimulate idea generation. Overall, collaboration and problem construction synergistically boosted idea productivity but did not improve the creativity of final solutions.