A Moderated Mediation Model of the Relationship between Perceived Leader Support and Creativity

Abstract

Given numerous calls for further investigation on understanding the theoretical mechanisms between perceived leader support (PLS) and creativity, this study divided creativity into two phases- idea generation and idea development, and focused on how team member’s knowledge activity mediated the relationship between PLS and the two phases. It also looked at how team member’s motivation orientation might moderate the mediated relationships. 236 individual data gathered from two Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Competitions were used to test this moderated mediation model. Results show that knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing mediate PLS-idea generation, PLS-idea development relationships separately. In addition, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation synergistically moderated the indirect PLS-idea generation relationship via knowledge acquisition, while only intrinsic motivation moderates the indirect PLS-idea development relationship.