The relationship between virtual work climate and digital creativity: The role of remote work self‐efficacy and proactive personality

Abstract

In the era of the digital economy, enhancing the digital creativity of remote workers is paramount for organizations. Our research, informed by insights from individual perceptions of climate and social cognition, introduces and examines a robust theoretical framework for comprehending the ways in which remote workers foster digital creativity within a virtual work environment. Utilizing this framework, we hypothesized about the correlation between a virtual work climate and digital creativity. To test our hypothesis, we embarked on an empirical study that involved a two‐stage survey, resulting in 331 valid responses. The findings reveal a positive correlation between the virtual work climate and digital creativity. Furthermore, we discovered that remote work self‐efficacy plays a role in partially mediating this relationship. The data also indicates that a proactive personality not only strengthens the connection between the virtual work climate and digital creativity but also enhances the link between the virtual work climate and remote work self‐efficacy. Intriguingly, a proactive personality also intensifies the mediating role of remote work self‐efficacy in the relationship between the virtual work climate and digital creativity. These insights shed light on the specific processes and conditions that amplify digital creativity among employees via a virtual work climate. We suggest that organizations can significantly boost the digital creativity of their remote workforce by cultivating a supportive virtual work climate.