Innovation enables organizations to survive and
maintain sustainability in today’s increasingly competitive business
environment. Employee innovation is an issue that has received much attention
from enterprises and academic circles and has never been out of date. Curiosity
is the beginning of the desire for knowledge, has always been regarded as the
source of instructions for innovation. However, the idea that curiosity
promotes innovation is not supported by empirical research. Here, we broaden
our understanding of curiosity in an organizational context through an
empirical investigation how work curiosity influences innovation behavior. We
also propose that the mediating role of intrinsic motivation and the moderating
role of job autonomy in the abovementioned relationships. Through two-stage
paired tracking and multi-source questionnaire survey, using SPSS22.0 and
Mplus7.0, and based on data collected from 247 participants in China, we tested
our hypotheses concerning these relationships. The study has implications for
enterprises to promote employee innovation, especially through “micro-innovation”
to promote “big innovation”.
References
[1]
Aiken, L. S., West, S. G., & Reno, R. R. (1991). Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[2]
Amabile, T. M., Conti, R., Coon, H., Lazenby, J., & Herron, M. (1996). Assessing the Work Environment for Creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 39, 1154-1184. https://doi.org/10.2307/256995
[3]
Amabile, T. M., Hill, K. G., Hennessey, B. A., & Tighe, E. M. (1994). The Work Preference Inventory: Assessing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Orientations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 950-967. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.66.5.950
[4]
Chang, Y. Y., & Shih, H. Y. (2019). Work Curiosity: A New Lens for Understanding Employee Creativity. Human Resource Management Review, 29, Article ID: 100672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2018.10.005
[5]
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). The General Causality Orientations Scale: Self-Determination in Personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19, 109-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-6566(85)90023-6
[6]
Fischer, C., Malycha, C. P., & Schafmann, E. (2019). The Influence of Intrinsic Motivation and Synergistic Extrinsic Motivators on Creativity and Innovation. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 137. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00137
[7]
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error: Algebra and Statistics. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, 382-388. https://doi.org/10.2307/3150980
[8]
Gino, F. (2018). The Business Case for Curiosity. Harvard Business Review, 96, 48-57.
[9]
Gross, M. E., Zedelius, C. M., & Schooler, J. W. (2020). Cultivating an Understanding of Curiosity as a Seed for Creativity. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 35, 77-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.07.015
[10]
Hackman, J. R. (1980). Work Redesign and Motivation. Professional Psychology, 11, 445-455. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.11.3.445
[11]
Hagtvedt, L. P., Dossinger, K., Harrison, S. H., & Huang, L. (2019). Curiosity Made the Cat More Creative: Specific Curiosity as a Driver of Creativity. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 150, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.10.007
[12]
Hardy III, J. H., Ness, A. M., & Mecca, J. (2017). Outside the Box: Epistemic Curiosity as a Predictor of Creative Problem Solving and Creative Performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 104, 230-237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.08.004
[13]
Harrison, S. H., Sluss, D. M., & Ashforth, B. E. (2011). Curiosity Adapted the Cat: The Role of Trait Curiosity in Newcomer Adaptation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 211-220. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021647
[14]
Horstmeyer, A. (2020). The Generative Role of Curiosity in Soft Skills Development for Contemporary VUCA Environments. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 33, 737-751. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-08-2019-0250
[15]
Ishaq, E., Bashir, S., Khan, A. K., Hassan, M. M., & Zakarira, R. (2019). Epistemic Curiosity and Perceived Workload: A Moderated Mediation Model of Achievement Striving and Overwork Climate. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1641734
[16]
Karwowski, M. (2012). Did Curiosity Kill the Cat? Relationship between Trait Curiosity, Creative Self-Efficacy and Creative Personal Identity. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 8, 547-558. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v8i4.513
[17]
Kashdan, T. B., Goodman, F. R., Disabato, D. J., McKnight, P. E., Kelso, K., & Naughton, C. (2020). Curiosity Has Comprehensive Benefits in the Workplace: Developing and Validating a Multidimensional Workplace Curiosity Scale in United States and German Employees. Personality and Individual Differences, 155, Article ID: 109717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109717
[18]
Kirmeyer, S. L., & Shirom, A. (1986). Perceived Job Autonomy in the Manufacturing Sector: Effects of Unions, Gender, and Substantive Complexity. Academy of Management Journal, 29, 832-840. https://doi.org/10.2307/255949
[19]
Lauriola, M., Litman, J. A., Mussel, P., De Santis, R., Crowson, H. M., & Hoffman, R. R. (2015). Epistemic Curiosity and Self-Regulation. Personality and Individual Differences, 83, 202-207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.04.017
[20]
Litman, J. (2005). Curiosity and the Pleasures of Learning: Wanting and Liking New Information. Cognition & Emotion, 19, 793-814. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930541000101
[21]
Litman, J. A. (2007). Curiosity as a Feeling of Interest and Feeling of Deprivation: The I/D Model of Curiosity. In P. R. Zelick (Ed.), Issues in the Psychology of Motivation (pp. 149-156). New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
[22]
Litman, J. A. (2008). Interest and Deprivation Factors of Epistemic Curiosity. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 1585-1595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.01.014
[23]
Litman, J. A., & Jimerson, T. L. (2004). The Measurement of Curiosity as a Feeling of Deprivation. Journal of Personality Assessment, 82, 147-157. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa8202_3
[24]
Litman, J., Hutchins, T., & Russon, R. (2005). Epistemic Curiosity, Feeling-of-Knowing, and Exploratory Behaviour. Cognition & Emotion, 19, 559-582. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930441000427
[25]
Liu, Y., & Shi, J. (2009). A Study on the Relationship between the Effects of the Organizational Innovative Climate and those of Motivational Preference, on Employees’ Innovative Behavior. Management World, 10, 88-101+114+188.
[26]
Loewenstein, G. (1994). The Psychology of Curiosity: A Review and Reinterpretation. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 75-98. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.116.1.75
[27]
Müceldili, B., Tatar, B., & Erdil, O. (2020). Can Curious Employees Be More Agile? The Role of Cognitive Style and Creative Process Engagement in Agility Performance. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 39, 39-52. https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.22056
[28]
Mumford, M. D., & McIntosh, T. (2017). Creative Thinking Processes: The Past and the Future. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 51, 317-322. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.197
[29]
Mussel, P. (2013). Introducing the Construct Curiosity for Predicting Job Performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34, 453-472. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1809
[30]
Mussel, P., & Spengler, M. (2015). Investigating Intellect from a Trait Activation Perspective: Identification of Situational Moderators for the Correlation with Work-Related Criteria. Journal of Research in Personality, 55, 51-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2015.01.002
[31]
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common Method Biases in Behavioral Research: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommended Remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879-903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
[32]
Reio, T. G., & Callahan, J. L. (2004). Affect, Curiosity, and Socialization-Related Learning: A Path, Analysis of Antecedents to Job Performance. Journal of Business and Psychology, 19, 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOBU.0000040269.72795.ce
[33]
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54-67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020
[34]
Spector, P. E. (1986). Perceived Control by Employees: A meta-Analysis of Studies Concerning Autonomy and Participation at Work. Human Relations, 39, 1005-1016. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872678603901104
[35]
Tett, R. P., & Burnett, D. D. (2003). A Personality Trait-Based Interactionist Model of Job Performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 500-517. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.3.500
[36]
Tett, R. P., & Guterman, H. A. (2000). Situation Trait Relevance, Trait Expression, and Cross-Situational Consistency: Testing a Principle of Trait Activation. Journal of Research in Personality, 34, 397-423. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.2000.2292
[37]
Tett, R. P., Simonet, D. V., Walser, B., & Brown, C. (2013). Trait Activation Theory. In N. D. Christiansen, & R. P. Tett (Eds.), Handbook of Personality at Work (pp. 71-100). Abingdon: Routledge.
[38]
Van Knippenberg, D., & Hirst, G. (2020). A Motivational Lens Model of Person × Situation Interactions in Employee Creativity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105, 1129-1144. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000486
[39]
Wagstaff, M. F., Flores, G. L., Ahmed, R., & Villanueva, S. (2020). Measures of Curiosity: A Literature Review. Human Resource Development Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21417
[40]
Wang, C., & Huang, Y. (2018). “I Want to Know the Answer! Give Me Fish’n’Chips!”: The Impact of Curiosity on Indulgent Choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 44, 1052-1067. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx086
[41]
Wang, H., & Li, J. (2015). How Trait Curiosity Influences Psychological Well-Being and Emotional Exhaustion: The Mediating Role of Personal Initiative. Personality and Individual Differences, 75, 135-140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.11.020
[42]
Yuan, F., & Woodman, R. W. (2010). Innovative Behavior in the Workplace: The Role of Performance and Image Outcome Expectations. Academy of Management Journal, 53, 323-342. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.49388995
