‘One glories, all glory’: role of inclusiveness behaviour in creativity

• Published in: Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) Vol. 41; no. 12; pp. 8449 - 8460
• Main Authors: Wang, Dongdong, Qian, Zhichao, Ouyang, Linyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Creative ability; Creativity; Employees; Influence; Psychology; Social Sciences; Workplace multiculturalism; China; Power distance; Employee creativity; Inclusiveness behaviour; Harmonious passion
• ISSN: 1046-1310; 1936-4733
• DOI: 10.1007/s12144-020-01289-9

Little is known about the specific strategy employees can adopt to promote their own creativity. To address this issue, the present study theorized and examined the influence of employees’ inclusiveness behaviour on their own creativity, as well as the mediating role of harmonious passion and the moderating role of power distance. Data was collected from 348 employees and their supervisors from three manufacturing enterprises in mainland China using a two-wave, time-lagged research design. Hierarchical regression analyses and PROCESS model were adopted to test proposed research hypotheses. Results revealed that inclusiveness behaviour was positively related to employee creativity and this relationship was mediated by harmonious passion. Moreover, the indirect effect of inclusiveness behaviour via harmonious passion was moderated by power distance. That is, the positive impact of inclusiveness behaviour on harmonious passion and subsequent employee creativity was stronger for employees low in power distance. These results highlight the importance of employees’ inclusiveness behaviour in the creative process. Organizations should encourage employees to engage in inclusiveness behaviour and strengthen their harmonious passion.