Linking Meaningfulness in the Workplace to Employee Creativity: The Intervening Role of Organizational Identification and Positive Psychological Experiences

Abstract

This study addresses the question of how meaningfulness in the workplace fosters employee creativity. It is posited that two forms of meaningfulness (meaningfulness at work [perceived organizational identity and external prestige] and meaningfulness in working [challenge and freedom]) are keys to enhancing employee creativity. Specifically, the study examined the intervening role of organizational identification and positive psychological experiences in the relationship between meaningfulness and creativity. The results confirm a sequential mediation model in which meaningfulness in the workplace is positively associated with supervisor ratings of employee creativity, via identification and positive psychological experiences (vitality, positive regard and mutuality, and organization-based self-esteem).

We would like to acknowledge helpful comments and suggestions provided by Blake Ashforth, Michael Pratt, Esther Singer, and Fred Walumbwa on earlier drafts of this article. We also thank the editor and anonymous reviewers of this journal for their constructive and helpful feedback. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 2007 Academy of Management Meeting in Philadelphia.

Notes

Note. Tests were 2-tailed.

∗p ≤ .05. ∗∗p ≤ .01. ∗∗∗p ≤ .001.