Believing in the power of belief: a study on the formation mechanism of innovative behavior from the perspectives of intrinsic and extrinsic spiritual inspiration

Purpose This study reveals the trigger of innovative behavior from the perspective of intrinsic and extrinsic spiritual inspiration and provides a new research idea for the formation mechanism of innovative behavior. The purpose of this study is to provide certain guidance and implications for enterprises to cultivate and enhance employees’ innovative behavior. Design/methodology/approach We conducted three studies, collected multi-source data (N = 1,175) from different countries longitudinally, as well as used hierarchical regression analysis and fuzzy-set quantitative comparative analysis to verify the theoretical model. Findings According to the findings, both spiritual leadership and career calling have a positive impact on employees’ innovative behavior through the mediating effect of autonomous motivation and the moderating effect of person-vocation fit. Originality/value Innovative behavior is the positive professional pursuit of employees, which is difficult to form without the motivation of spiritual factors. Spirituality is a complex concept that contains intrinsic and extrinsic spiritual factors, both of which could stimulate employees’ innovative behavior. Although many discussions have been held on this topic in recent years, little attention has been paid simultaneously to the motivating effects of the two perspectives. Drawn from self-determination theory, this study explores the mechanisms of two spiritual motivation paths (i.e. the intrinsic and extrinsic spiritual motivation paths) in the improvement of employees’ innovative behavior.