Breaking the chains: The inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity under low job autonomy

When the social fabric of organizations limits individual autonomy, new ideas are needed that satisfy a person’s will as well as the constraints imposed by the social context. To explain when people achieve this synthesis and display creativity under low job autonomy, we examine the influence of the...

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Main Authors: BLEDOW, Ronald, KÜHNEL, Jana, JIN, Mengzi, KUHL, Julius
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2022
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6690
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7692/viewcontent/Bledow_Kuehnel_Jin_Kuhl_2021_Creativity_under_low_Autonomy.pdf
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spelling sg-smu-ink.lkcsb_research-76922022-05-18T09:15:18Z Breaking the chains: The inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity under low job autonomy BLEDOW, Ronald KÜHNEL, Jana JIN, Mengzi KUHL, Julius When the social fabric of organizations limits individual autonomy, new ideas are needed that satisfy a person’s will as well as the constraints imposed by the social context. To explain when people achieve this synthesis and display creativity under low job autonomy, we examine the influence of their action-state orientation. The theory of action versus state orientation contrasts two responses people display when faced by a situation that conflicts with their will. An actionoriented response entails that people readily disengage from processing the situation and initiate goal-striving, while a state-oriented response entails that people remain focused on the situation. We argue that creativity under low job autonomy requires the integration of the competing processes underlying action and state orientation and is most frequently displayed by people in the midrange of the action-state orientation continuum. We test this theorizing with three studies. In a constrained laboratory setting, we induced a focus on an unwanted situation and demonstrated an inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity. A field study showed that the inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and daily self-reports of creativity was strongest under low job autonomy and disappeared under high job autonomy. A multi-source study replicated and extended these relationships using managerial ratings of creativity. 2022-04-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6690 info:doi/10.1177/0149206321996812 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7692/viewcontent/Bledow_Kuehnel_Jin_Kuhl_2021_Creativity_under_low_Autonomy.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Creativity Innovation Action-State Orientation Autonomy Motivation Organizational Behavior and Theory
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Creativity
Innovation
Action-State Orientation
Autonomy
Motivation
Organizational Behavior and Theory
spellingShingle Creativity
Innovation
Action-State Orientation
Autonomy
Motivation
Organizational Behavior and Theory
BLEDOW, Ronald
KÜHNEL, Jana
JIN, Mengzi
KUHL, Julius
Breaking the chains: The inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity under low job autonomy
description When the social fabric of organizations limits individual autonomy, new ideas are needed that satisfy a person’s will as well as the constraints imposed by the social context. To explain when people achieve this synthesis and display creativity under low job autonomy, we examine the influence of their action-state orientation. The theory of action versus state orientation contrasts two responses people display when faced by a situation that conflicts with their will. An actionoriented response entails that people readily disengage from processing the situation and initiate goal-striving, while a state-oriented response entails that people remain focused on the situation. We argue that creativity under low job autonomy requires the integration of the competing processes underlying action and state orientation and is most frequently displayed by people in the midrange of the action-state orientation continuum. We test this theorizing with three studies. In a constrained laboratory setting, we induced a focus on an unwanted situation and demonstrated an inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity. A field study showed that the inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and daily self-reports of creativity was strongest under low job autonomy and disappeared under high job autonomy. A multi-source study replicated and extended these relationships using managerial ratings of creativity.
format text
author BLEDOW, Ronald
KÜHNEL, Jana
JIN, Mengzi
KUHL, Julius
author_facet BLEDOW, Ronald
KÜHNEL, Jana
JIN, Mengzi
KUHL, Julius
author_sort BLEDOW, Ronald
title Breaking the chains: The inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity under low job autonomy
title_short Breaking the chains: The inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity under low job autonomy
title_full Breaking the chains: The inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity under low job autonomy
title_fullStr Breaking the chains: The inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity under low job autonomy
title_full_unstemmed Breaking the chains: The inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity under low job autonomy
title_sort breaking the chains: the inverted-u-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity under low job autonomy
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2022
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6690
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7692/viewcontent/Bledow_Kuehnel_Jin_Kuhl_2021_Creativity_under_low_Autonomy.pdf
_version_ 1770575654695206912