Leader Negative Feedback and Employee Creativity: A Latent Growth Modeling of Challenge and Threat

Abstract

The role of leader negative feedback (LNF) in creativity is theoretically and empirically equivocal in extant literature. It remains ambiguous why and for whom LNF may hamper or help creativity. Moreover, little is known how an employee’s reaction to LNF may change between two performance evaluation periods and whether such change uniquely (independent from the initial reactions to LNF) affects employee creativity. In this research, we propose a dual-mechanism model to simultaneously account for LNF’s benefit (via challenge appraisal) and harm (via threat appraisal) to employee creativity. Taking a dynamic perspective, we also model the formation and function of challenge and threat appraisal changes. In particular, we theorize an increasing trajectory (growth) of both appraisals over time. Challenge appraisal enhances employee creativity, whereas threat appraisal reduces employee creativity. The growths of both appraisals have unique effects on employee creativity above and beyond their initial levels. Finally, employee avoidance and approach orientation are introduced as moderators, with the former amplifying the negative indirect effects via the initial level and the magnitude of growth of threat appraisal, and the latter amplifying the positive indirect effects via the initial level and magnitude of growth of challenge appraisal. Results based on a multi-wave and multi-source field study supported the key predictions.