How self-construals relate to employee incremental and radical creativity: A behavioral strategy perspective

We propose that employees with different types of self-construals use different behavioural strategies to deal with work-related problems, leading them to generate distinct forms of creative ideas for problem solutions. Specifically, we develop a conceptual model in which an other-reliant strategy of seeking creative help from in-group others mediates the relationship between an interdependent self-construal and incremental creativity, whereas a self-reliant strategy of independent creative process engagement mediates the relationship between an independent self-construal and radical creativity. In two studies, we consistently find that an interdependent self-construal drives employees to seek creative help from their group leader and group members when being faced with work-related problems. Help-seeking from the leader, rather than help-seeking from group members, in turn, leads employees to generate incremental ideas for problem solutions. In contrast, an independent self-construal drives employees to engage in creative processes in a self-reliant manner, leading them to generate radically creative ideas for problem solutions. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.