Masters-Waage, Theodore C.Kinias, ZoeArgueta-Rivera, JazminStewart, DillonIvany, RachelKing, EdenHebl, Mikki2024-07-252024-07-252024Masters-Waage, T. C., Kinias, Z., Argueta-Rivera, J., Stewart, D., Ivany, R., King, E., & Hebl, M. (2024). Social inattentional blindness to idea stealing in meetings. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 8060. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-56905-6https://hdl.handle.net/1911/117525Using a virtual reality social experiment, participants (N = 154) experienced being at the table during a decision-making meeting and identified the best solutions generated. During the meeting, one meeting participant repeated another participant’s idea, presenting it as his own. Although this idea stealing was clearly visible and audible, only 30% of participants correctly identified who shared the idea first. Subsequent analyses suggest that the social environment affected this novel form of inattentional blindness. Although there was no experimental effect of team diversity on noticing, there was correlational evidence of an indirect effect of perceived team status on noticing via attentional engagement. In sum, this paper extends the inattentional blindness phenomenon to a realistic professional interaction and demonstrates how features of the social environment can reduce social inattention.engExcept where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.  Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the terms of the license or beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Journal articles41598-024-56905-6https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-56905-6