Impacts of Interpersonal Interaction on Creative Performance: The Moderating Effect of Goal Orientation

Abstract

Abstract This study adopted a social perspective to explore the relationships of interpersonal interaction on creative performance and the moderating effect of goal orientation based on the social exchange theory and social capital theory. Interpersonal interaction was divided into two types, expressive relations and instrumental relations. Goal orientation was differentiated as learning goal orientation and performance goal orientation. Creative performance was divided into three facets, namely creative thinking, creative proposals, and creative applications. Data were collected from research and development engineers. The results show that expressive relations have positive effects on all aspects of creative performance, whereas instrumental relations have positive effects on creative applications. Learning goal orientation moderates the relationship between instrumental relations and creative proposals. Performance goal orientation has moderating effects on the relationship between interpersonal relations (both expressive and instrumental) and creative performance. This study addresses a gap in research into types of interpersonal interaction and goal orientation as these relate to creative performance. Keywords: Interpersonal interaction, Goal orientation, Creative performance.