I can, but I won't: Authentic people generate more malevolently creative ideas, but are less likely to implement them in daily life

The current study examined the relationship between authenticity and malevolent creativity (MC), as well as a potential mediating path. Two hundred and eighty-six Chinese participants (216 female; mean age = 21.20, SD = 3.56) were recruited via an online survey website, in which they were asked to complete the Authenticity Scale, Moral Disengagement Scale, an open-ended MC problem solving task, and the MC Behavior Scale. The results revealed discriminated correlation patterns between authenticity and different measures of MC. Specifically, authenticity was positively associated with the fluency and uniqueness scores of the MC problem solving task, but negatively associated with the frequency of MC behavior engagement in real life. Moreover, moral disengagement fully mediated the relationship between authenticity and MC behavior. These findings indicate that although authentic people generate more MC ideas, they are less likely to act on MC behaviors in daily life due to lower levels of moral disengagement. Implications and limitations are discussed in detail.