Effect of workplace status on employees’ creativity from the perspective of expectation identity: a moderated chain double mediation model

Abstract

Purpose Drawing upon the creativity interaction theory and expectation-identity perspective, the purpose of this paper is to construct a chain mediation model of the influence of workplace status on individual creativity from the perspective of expectation identity and to explore the moderating effect of prosocial motivation in this model. Design/methodology/approach This study reached 529 employees from 35 enterprises as the investigation objects and used structural equation model and hierarchical regression for data analysis. Data on workplace status, prosocial motivation, creativity expectations and creativity role identity were collected at Time Point T1, and individual creativity was collected at time point T2 (one month later). Findings The results reveal that: workplace status has a significantly positive effect on creativity; creativity performance expectations and creativity role identity have partial mediating effect in the relationship between workplace status and creativity, respectively; creativity performance expectations and creativity role identity play a chain double mediation role in the relationship between workplace status and creativity; and prosocial motivation moderates the relationship between workplace status and creativity and further moderates the chain double mediation effect of creativity performance expectations and creativity role identity. Originality/value In existing studies, conclusions about the relationship between workplace status and individual creativity could be divided into three viewpoints: positive, negative and U-shaped. These inconsistent findings on the relationship between workplace status and creativity imply that the relationship is complex and not fully elucidated. This may be attributed to the fact that workplace status is influenced by cultural factors and research objects. This study reinterprets the relationship between workplace status and individual creativity through the lens of creativity interaction theory and demonstrates the significance of employee workplace status in the Chinese context.

Board's informal hierarchy: influences on enterprise innovation quality

“…, 2005; Melamed, 2013; Troyer and Younts, 1997). The theory has also gradually gained attention in the field of human resources, with scholars attempting to investigate its role in enhancing employee creativity from the perspectives of performance identification and role identification (Liu et al. , 2022b).…”

“…Most existing studies adopt a sociological perspective to explore the impact of invisible status differences within groups on individual behavior (Dippong and Kalkhoff, 2015;Fis ¸ek et al, 2005;Melamed, 2013;Troyer and Younts, 1997). The theory has also gradually gained attention in the field of human resources, with scholars attempting to investigate its role in enhancing employee creativity from the perspectives of performance identification and role identification (Liu et al, 2022b). By applying expectation status theory to the realm of corporate governance research, we discovered that, indeed, within the collectives of board directors acting as decision-making apparatuses of corporations, informal hierarchies emerge due to the underlying status differentials among the directors.…”

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“…It has been established that positive emotions play an important role in driving motivation, behavioral tendencies, and employee behavior in the workplace. Positive emotions are possible when leaders use witty and humorous words to communicate with their employees, reduce conflicts and contradictions in the workplace, and when employees are more enthusiastic about their work (Liu et al, 2020b).…”

Bright and dark side of knowledge management practices in firms using information systems: examining different moderating impacts

“…Knowledge hiding (KH) among employees negatively impacts the employee creativity (EC) of a firm. 3.2 Employee creativity and firm innovativeness Creativity is when people think of and imagine new ideas for solving a problem or new possibilities that no one had thought of before (Liu et al, 2022). The scope of creativity is limited by whoever is unable to think outside the box (Opoku et al, 2022).…”

“…Creativity is when people think of and imagine new ideas for solving a problem or new possibilities that no one had thought of before (Liu et al , 2022). The scope of creativity is limited by whoever is unable to think outside the box (Opoku et al , 2022).…”