The relationship between proactive personality and employees’ creativity: the mediating role of intrinsic motivation and creative self-efficacy

Abstract

Employees’ creativity is one of the most important factors in the success of organizations which has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. Recent research has suggested that proactive personality fosters creativity. However, there is a lack of research into the mechanisms that make this link possible. The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between proactive personality and employee creativity by focusing on the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation and creative self-efficacy. Data from 178 Iranian agriculture experts were collected and analyzed by conducting structural equation modeling. The results indicated that proactive personality was directly and positively related to employees’ creativity. Additionally, the results showed that intrinsic motivation and creative self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between proactive personality and employees’ creativity. The findings not only shed light on mechanisms that underlie in the proactive personality -creativity linkage but they also highlight the importance of intrinsic motivation and creative self-efficacy in the linkage. Together, the study extends the effect of proactive personality on creativity and the mediation mechanisms underlying this relationship. The theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.