Idea thieves tend to target early concepts, experiments find

Phys.org  November 20, 2024 Creators often encounter the threat of idea theft, which can discourage them from sharing their ideas and receiving vital feedback. A team of researchers in the US (University of Virginia, Cornell University) explored the psychology behind creators’ attempts to strategically manage idea sharing. Across three studies, they found that creators mis-predict the preferences of idea thieves, such that idea thieves prefer to steal ideas in earlier stages of development than creators expect. They found this difference was driven by creators’ tendency to underestimate how much idea thieves attend to moral concerns while deciding when to steal […]