The role of synergistic interplay among LMX, leader creativity expectations and job characteristics in stimulating creative process engagement

Purpose As a typical creative behavior, creative process engagement (CPE) has received increased attention in recent years. Leadership behaviors such as leader–member exchange (LMX) and leader creativity expectations (LCE) have been found as two key predictive factors of CPE. However, the mechanism underlying this relationship is not well understood. This study aims to clarify how LMX influences follower CPE by considering the interplay among LCE, decision autonomy and task interdependence from an interactionist perspective. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 371 leader–employee dyads from eight enterprises in mainland China, this study conducts a hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypotheses for the proposed model. Findings Results reveal that the significant two- and three-way interactions where LCE, decision autonomy and task interdependence moderate the relationship between LMX and follower CPE. The relationship between LMX and follower CPE is not significant as expected, but the moderating role of LCE is positive and significant, and the relationship is strongest when conducted with either low task interdependence or high decision autonomy. Originality/value Different from previous research that only investigated one certain leadership factor’ effect on employees' innovative behaviors, this study comprehensively considered the combined influence of two related but significantly different connotation leadership factors on follower CPE and found the contingency effect of LCE on the relationship between LMX and follower CPE. Furthermore, the authors found the regional effectiveness of the leadership factor. The effect of leadership factors on follower CPE varies under the influence of different job characteristics, and is conducive to enrich the interactionist view on follower CPE.