Abstract
Creativity is critical to organizational success. Understanding the antecedents of creativity is important. Although there is a growing body of research on how (mixed) emotions affect creativity, most of the work has focused on intrapersonal processes. We do not know whether contrasting emotions between interacting partners (i.e., interpersonal mixed emotions) have creative consequences. Building on information processing theories of emotion, our research proposes a theoretical account for why interpersonal mixed emotions matter. It hypothesized that mixed- (vs. same-) emotion interactions would predict higher collective creative performance. We tested the hypothesis in two-party integrative negotiations (105 dyads). We manipulated negotiators’ emotional expressions (angry-angry, happy-happy, angry-happy dyads) and measured the extent to which they generated creative solutions that tapped into hidden integrative potential in the negotiation for a better joint gain. The results overall supported the hypothesis: (i) there was some evidence that mixed-emotion dyads (i.e., angry-happy) performed better than same-emotion dyads; (ii) mixed-emotion dyads, on average, achieved a high level of joint gain that exceeded the (non-creative) zero-sum threshold, whereas same-emotion dyads did not. The findings add theoretical and actionable insights into our understanding of creativity, emotion, and organization behavior.
Highlights
Creativity is a critical asset to organization effectiveness (Anderson et al, 2014)
As expressed emotions can shape information search and integration processes between interacting partners, we argue that interpersonal mixed emotions can lead to better collective creative performance
Taking an interpersonal perspective of emotions and drawing from the EASI model (Van Kleef, 2009), we argue that the experience of interpersonal mixed emotion between negotiating parties can have critical interpersonal implications on collective creative performance
Summary
Creativity is a critical asset to organization effectiveness (Anderson et al, 2014). It catalyzes the formulation of new ideas and promotes optimal conflict resolution practices, among other positive outcomes (Kurtzberg, 1998; Liu et al, 2017). The effects of emotions on creativity have drawn increasing interest (Fredrickson, 2006; Conner and Silvia, 2015). Recent research has just begun to explore the impact of mixed emotions. Mixed emotions refer to the simultaneous experience of positive and negative emotions ( known as “emotional ambivalence”; Larsen et al, 2001; Larsen and Stastny, 2011).
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