This paper aims to examine the effect of self-reflection on employee creativity in China. The authors identify individual intellectual capital (IIC) as a mediator and concerns for face as a moderator for this relationship.
A sample of 351 dyads of full-time employees and their immediate supervisors from various Chinese companies were surveyed. Regression analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the research model.
Three dimensions of self-reflection significantly affect IIC and subsequently lead to employee creativity; IIC mediates the relationship between three dimensions of self-reflection and employee creativity; concern for face negatively moderates the effect of IIC on employee creativity.
Managers can facilitate employees’ creativity by motivating them to conduct self-reflection and develop IIC, and by nurturing a safe atmosphere that allows individuals to take risks without losing face.
This is one of the first empirical studies to investigate the mediating effects of IIC and the moderating effects of concerns for face on the relationship between self-reflection and creativity.
