Abstract
Prior research on feedback and creative performance has neglected the dynamic nature of affect and has focused only on the influence of positive affect. We argue that creative performance is the result of a dynamic process in which a person experiences a phase of negative affect and subsequently enters a state of high positive affect that is influenced by the feedback environment. Hierarchical regression was used to analyze a sample of 264 employees from seven industry firms. The results indicate that employees’ perceptions of a supportive supervisor feedback environment indirectly influence their level of creative performance through positive affect (t2); the negative affect (t1) moderates the relationship between positive affect (t2) and creative performance (t2), rendering the relationship more positive if negative affect (t1) is high. The change in positive affect mediates the relationship between the supervisor feedback environment and creative performance; a decrease in negative affect moderates the relationship between increased positive affect and creative performance, rendering the relationship more positive if the decrease in negative affect is large. The implications for improving the creative performances of employees are further discussed.
Highlights
The creative performance of employees is the primary means for promoting innovation, enhancing competitiveness, and developing an enterprise’s competitive advantage (Zhou and Shalley, 2008)
An inspection of the correlations reveals that supervisor feedback environment is positively related to positive affect (t2; r = 0.27, p < 0.01), positive affect change (r = 0.17, p < 0.01) and creative performance (r = 0.68, p < 0.01)
The results indicate that positive affect (t2; r = 0.46, p < 0.01), positive affect change (r = 0.22, p < 0.01), negative affect (t1; r = 0.50, p < 0.01), and negative affect change (r = −0.42, p < 0.01) are significantly related to creative performance
Summary
The creative performance of employees is the primary means for promoting innovation, enhancing competitiveness, and developing an enterprise’s competitive advantage (Zhou and Shalley, 2008). Prior research has confirmed that feedback is an important environmental factor (Ford, 1996; Zhou and George, 2001) that can influence creative performance through the mediating role of Improve Creativity through Dynamic Affect affect; the results are inconsistent. Other studies have found that feedback can positively influence creative performance through the mediating role of negative affect (Baumann and Kuhl, 2002). This inconsistency in research results may suggest that managers are unaware of the need to give employees feedback to influence positive or negative affect and improve creative performance; resolving the inconsistent results regarding the affect mechanism between feedback and creative performance has become a key research focus
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