Does playful work design ‘lead to’ more creativity? A diary study on the role of flow

Figures & data

Figure 1. Proposed theoretical model.

Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations Between Study Variables.

		Mean	SD	ICC	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1	Flow proneness	3.38	.54	–
2	Playful work design	4.09	1.21	.54	.287**		.772**	.602**	.116**	.122**	.083	.109*
3	Work-related flow	3.88	1.20	.56	.374**	.796**		.568**	.095*	.097*	.031	.074
4	Subjective Creativity	3.22	1.01	–	.290**	.595**	.499**		.124**	.138**	.088*	.098*
5	Fluency	2.60	.85	.50	.105	.078	.067	.112		.894**	.858**	.627**
6	Flexibility	2.62	.74	.46	.061	.110	.113	.152	.928**		.876**	.658**
7	Originality	3.00	.74	.43	.044	.082	.078	.142	.912**	.946**		.675**
8	Elaboration	2.78	.54	.21	−.019	.105	.055	.202*	.660**	.722**	.725**

Note. Correlation above the diagonal are based on non-averaged data (level-1, N = 552); below the diagonal are level-2 (N = 149) correlations based on the average across days.

*p < .05. **p < .01

Table 2. Work-Related Flow by Playful Work Design, Flow Proneness, and Cross-Level Interaction.

	Work-related flow				Subjective creativity				Fluency			Flexibility
	Estimate	SE	P		Estimate	SE	P		Estimate	SE	P	Estimate	SE	P
Control variable
Lag (previous day)	–.183	.045	***		–.210	.058	***		–.062	.009	***	–.039	.011	**
Level-1
Playful work design (PWD)	.581	.042	***		.379	.093	***
Work-related flow					.312	.093	**		.086	.031	**	.051	.029	.083
Level-2
Flow proneness (FP)	–.035	.203
Cross-level interaction
PWD * FP	.087	.043	*
Variances (level-1)	.573	.063	***		.392	.040	***		.323	.026	***	.282	.028	***
Variances (level-2)	.854	.121	***		.273	.103	**		.391	.052	***	.263	.039	***

Note. ***p < .001. *p < .05

Figure 2. Cross-level Interaction Effect of Daily Playful Work Design and Trait Flow Proneness on Daily Work-related Flow.