How does proactive personality affect employee creativity and ostracism? The mediating role of envy

Abstract

When working alongside proactive colleagues, do you elevate yourself through benign envy or resort to malicious envy? To address this intriguing question, we constructed a model based on social comparison theory to measure the double-edged sword effects of proactive personality on employee outcomes. We hypothesized that proactive employees would induce two distinct tendencies in their peers—workplace ostracism and employee creativity—due to peer envy. The study analyzed 389 valid responses from full-time employees in Chinese organizations using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that proactive personality positively influences benign envy among peers, which in turn positively affects employee creativity. Moreover, benign envy mediates the relationship between proactive personality and employee creativity. On the other hand, proactive personality positively influences malicious envy among peers, which in turn positively affects workplace ostracism. Additionally, malicious envy mediates the relationship between proactive personality and workplace ostracism. This study intertwines personality, emotions, and workplace outcomes, thereby advancing the existing literature on social comparison theory. Additionally, it furnishes valuable insights for organizational human resource management, particularly in the realms of employee recruitment and workplace relationship management.