Creative Opportunities at Work. A New Concept and Its Relevance for Employee Creativity and Well-Being

Abstract

This study introduces the concept of creative opportunities as a new aspect of work design and provides evidence for its validity. The concept of creative opportunities describes the perceived degree to which the content and organization of the employees’ work tasks, activities, relationships, and responsibilities within an organizational or work-related context (i.e. work design) affords the employees possibilities for creative action. In contrast to creative requirements, creative opportunities focus more on the possibilities for creative action in opposition to expectations and duties to be creative. Creative opportunities are expected to be related to employee creativity as well as to well-being indicators such as meaningfulness, thriving, and life satisfaction. A cross-sectional survey study (N = 403) shows evidence for the incremental validity of creative opportunities in predicting these outcomes beyond creative requirements and work autonomy.