Contextual Inhibitors of Employee Creativity in Organizations

Abstract

This study highlights the importance of negative predictors of employee creativity. The authors identified a set of work environment characteristics that may inhibit employee creativity. Using data collected from 123 Canadian employees in various industries, the authors empirically tested the relationships between these inhibiting factors and peer-rated creative performance. Aversive leadership and unsupportive organizational climate were negatively related to creativity, whereas close monitoring was positively associated with creativity. Interaction analyses indicate that creative ability of employees may either enhance or attenuate the detrimental effects of inhibitory contextual factors. Complementing the existing studies that have largely focused on facilitators of creativity, the present study introduces a more balanced perspective to the organizational creativity literature by examining inhibitory contextual factors.