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Empathic creativity: can trait empathy predict creative concept generation and selection?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2022

Mohammad Alsager Alzayed Open the ORCID record for Mohammad Alsager Alzayed [Opens in a new window] ,
Scarlett R. Miller  and
Christopher McComb
Mohammad Alsager Alzayed*
Affiliation:
Department of Industrial & Management Systems Engineering, Kuwait University, Building ENP-S, Room E-186, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Scarlett R. Miller
Affiliation:
School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs, The Pennsylvania State University, 213-P Hammond Building, University Park, PA16802-1401, USA
Christopher McComb
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 4126 Wean Hall, Pittsburgh, PA15213, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Mohammad Alsager Alzayed, E-mail: mohammad.alsageralzayed@ku.edu.kw
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Abstract

Over the past decade, engineering design research has seen a significant surge of the discussion of empathy. As such, design researchers have been devoted in devising and assessing empathic design activities. While prior research has examined the utility of empathic design experiences on driving creative concept generation, little is known about the role of a designer's empathic tendencies in driving creative concept generation and selection in an engineering design project. Without this knowledge, we cannot be sure if, when, or how empathy influences the design process. Thus, the main goal of this paper was to identify the role of trait empathy in creative concept generation and selection in an engineering design student project. In order to achieve this objective, a study was conducted with 103 first-year engineering students during two design stages of an 8-week design project (concept generation and concept selection). The main findings from this paper highlighted that empathic concern tendencies positively impacted the generation of more ideas while personal distress tendencies negatively impacted the generation of more ideas. During concept selection, perspective-taking tendencies positively impacted participants’ propensity for selecting elegant ideas. This research took the first step in encouraging empirical investigations aimed at understanding the role of trait empathy across different stages of the design process.

Keywords

Design creativitydesign cognitiondesign educationdesign theory
Type
Research Article
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , November 2021 , pp. 369 - 383
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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