Abstract
Intense market competition has caused organizations to pay increasing attention to employee creativity. At the same time, as two typical job characteristics, job demands for employees are gradually increasing, and correspondingly, more job control is given to employees. However, the relationship between these two job characteristics and creativity is relatively limited. Based on the match perspective in the context of job design and drawing on the conservation of resource theory, this study uses a combination of polynomial regression and response surface analysis to study the impact of job demands-control match on employee creativity and the mediation effect of creative self-efficacy. Through an analysis of questionnaires from 204 employee-supervisor dyads, this study found that (1) in the case of congruence, employee creativity is higher when job demands and job control are aligned at a higher level than at a lower one; (2) in the case of incongruence, employee creativity is higher when job control exceeds job demands (low-high) than when job demands exceed job control (high-low), and (3) creative self-efficacy mediates the relationship between job demands-control match and employee creativity. The results of this investigation can address the existing relational and methodological gaps in the literature and help managers understand what job design schemes should be formulated and managed to influence the level of employee creative self-efficacy, which in turn fosters employee creativity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The data that support the results of this paper are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.
References
Amabile, T. M. (1983). The social psychology of creativity: A componential conceptualization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(2), 357–376. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.45.2.357
Bakker, A. B., Hakanen, J. J., Demerouti, E., & Xanthopoulou, D. (2007). Job resources boost work engagement, particularly when job demands are high. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(2), 274–284. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.99.2.274
Bakker, A. B., van Veldhoven, M., & Xanthopoulou, D. (2010). Beyond the demand-control model. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 9(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000006
Bakker, A. B., Xanthopoulou, D., & Demerouti, E. (2023). How does chronic burnout affect dealing with weekly job demands? A test of central propositions in JD-R and COR-theories. Applied Psychology, 72(1), 389–410. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12382
Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2(1), 21–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-839X.00024
Bandura, A. (2012). On the functional properties of perceived self-efficacy revisited. Journal of Management, 38(1), 9–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311410606
Bledow, R., Kühnel, J., Jin, M., & Kuhl, J. (2022). Breaking the chains: The inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity under low job autonomy. Journal of Management, 48(4), 905–935. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206321996812
Breevaart, K., & Bakker, A. B. (2018). Daily job demands and employee work engagement: The role of daily transformational leadership behavior. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23(3), 338–349. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000082
Butler, A., Grzywacz, J., Bass, B., & Linney, K. (2005). Extending the demands-control model: A daily diary study of job characteristics, work-family conflict and work-family facilitation. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 78(2), 155–169.
Cheung, J. H., Sinclair, R. R., Shi, J., & Wang, M. (2015). Do job demands of Chinese manufacturing employees predict positive or negative outcomes? A test of competing hypotheses. Stress and Health, 31(5), 432–442. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2568
Christensen, S. A., Walumbwa, F. O., Hsu, C. I. C., Misati, E., Babalola, M. T., & Kim, K. (2021). Unmasking the creative self-efficacy–creative performance relationship: The roles of thriving at work, perceived work significance, and task interdependence. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(22), 4820–4846. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1710721
Daniels, K., & Jonge, J. (2010). Match making and match breaking: The nature of match within and around job design. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317909X485144
Dawley, D. D., Andrews, M. C., & Bucklew, N. S. (2008). Mentoring, supervisor support, and perceived organizational support: What matters most? Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 29(3), 235–247. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730810861290
Demirović, B. D., Petrović, M. D., Sekulić, D., et al. (2022). Significance of the work environment and personal resources for employees’ well-being at work in the hospitality sector. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(23), 16165. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192316165
Dewett, T. (2006). Exploring the role of risk in Employee Creativity. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 40(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.2006.tb01265.x
Ding, G., Liu, H., Huang, Q., & Gu, J. (2019). Enterprise social networking usage as a moderator of the relationship between work stressors and employee creativity: A multilevel study. Information & Management, 56(8), 103–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2019.04.008
Du, Y., Li, P., & Zhang, L. (2018). Linking job control to employee creativity: The roles of creative self-efficacy and regulatory focus. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 21(3), 187–197. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajsp.12219
Edwards, J. R. (2008). Person–Environment Fit in Organizations: An Assessment of Theoretical Progress. Academy of Management Annals, 2(1), 167–230. https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520802211503
Edwards, J. R., & Cable, D. M. (2009). The value of value congruence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(3), 654–677. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014891
Edwards, J. R., & Parry, M. E. (1993). On the use of polynomial regression equations as an alternative to difference scores in organizational research. Academy of Management Journal, 36(6), 1577–1613. https://doi.org/10.2307/256822
Farid, H., Zhang, Y., Tian, M., et al. (2023). Unveiling the job characteristics-creativity rapport through the bridge of thriving: A self-determination perspective from the Chinese hospitality sector. Humanity & Social Sciences Communication, 10, 412. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01828-2
Ford, C. M. (1996). A theory of Individual Creative Action in Multiple Social Domains. Academy of Management Review, 21(4), 1112–1142. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1996.9704071865
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: algebra and statistics. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(3), 382–388. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800313
Gist, M. E., & Mitchell, T. R. (1992). Self-Efficacy: A theoretical analysis of its determinants and malleability. Academy of Management Review, 17(2), 183–211. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1992.4279530
Gonzalez-Mulé, E., Kim, M. (M.), & Ryu, J. W. (2021). A meta-analytic test of multiplicative and additive models of job demands, resources, and stress. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(9), 1391–1411. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000840
Grosser, T. J., Venkataramani, V., & Labianca, G. (2017). (Joe). An alter-centric perspective on employee innovation: The importance of alters’ creative self-efficacy and network structure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(9), 1360–1374. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000220
Gu, Q., Tang, T. L. P., & Jiang, W. (2015). Does Moral Leadership Enhance Employee Creativity? Employee identification with leader and leader–Member Exchange (LMX) in the Chinese context. Journal of Business Ethics, 126(3), 513–529. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1967-9
Guan, Y. J., Deng, H., Fan, L. Y., & Zhou, X. Y. (2021). Theorizing person-environment fit in a changing career world: Interdisciplinary integration and future directions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 126, 103557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2021.103557
Guo, J., Zhou, X., Lin, G., Fang, J., Zhang, J., Gu, W., & Liu, L. (2014). The application of job demand-control model in China’s industrial workers: Responding surface analysis and curve relationship. Management World, 11, 80–94.
Halbesleben, J. R. B., Neveu, J. P., Paustian-Underdahl, S. C., & Westman, M. (2014). Getting to the COR. Journal of Management, 40(5), 1334–1364. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314527130
Harrison, S. H., & Wagner, D. T. (2016). Spilling outside the box: The effects of individuals’ creative behaviors at work on time spent with their spouses at home. Academy of Management Journal, 59(3), 841–859. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0560
Häusser, J. A., Mojzisch, A., Niesel, M., & Schulz-Hardt, S. (2010). Ten years on: A review of recent research on the Job demand–control (-Support) model and psychological well-being. Work & Stress, 24(1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678371003683747
Häusser, J. A., Schulz-Hardt, S., & Mojzisch, A. (2014). The active learning hypothesis of the job–demand–control model: An experimental examination. Ergonomics, 57(1), 23–33.
Hernández, P. M., Salanova, M., & Peiró, J. M. (2007). Job demands, job resources and individual innovation at work: Going beyond Karasek’s model? Psicothema, 19(4), 621–626.
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.3.513
Hobfoll, S. E. (2001). The influence of culture, community, and the nested-self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology, 50(3), 337–421. https://doi.org/10.1111/1464-0597.00062
Hobfoll, S. E., Halbesleben, J., Neveu, J. P., & Westman, M. (2018). Conservation of resources in the organizational context: The reality of resources and their consequences. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 5, 103–128. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104640
Hughes, D. J., Lee, A., Tian, A. W., Newman, A., & Legood, A. (2018). Leadership, creativity, and innovation: A critical review and practical recommendations. The Leadership Quarterly, 29(5), 549–569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.03.001
Huth, K. B. S., & Chung-Yan, G. A. (2023). Quantifying the evidence for the absence of the job demands and job control interaction on workers’ well-being: A bayesian meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(6), 1060–1072. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001066
Johnson, J. V., & Hall, E. M. (1988). Job strain, work place social support, and cardiovascular disease: A cross-sectional study of a random sample of the Swedish working population. American Journal of Public Health, 78(10), 1336–1342. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.78.10.1336
Joo, B. K. (Brian), Yang, B., & McLean, G. N. (Eds.). (2014). Employee creativity: the effects of perceived learning culture, leader–member exchange quality, job autonomy, and proactivity. Human Resource Development International, 17(3), 297–317. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2014.896126
Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(2), 285. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392498
Karasek, R. A., & Theorell, T. (1990). Healthy work: Stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life (p. 381). Basic Books. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-6870(92)90320-U
Kim, T. Y., Hon, A. H. Y., & Lee, D. R. (2010). Proactive personality and employee creativity: The effects of job creativity requirement and supervisor support for creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 22(1), 37–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400410903579536
Leonard-Barton, D., & Swap, W. C. (1999). When sparks fly: Igniting creativity in groups. Harvard Business Press.
Lesener, T., Gusy, B., Jochmann, A., & Wolter, C. (2020). The drivers of work engagement: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal evidence. Work & Stress, 34(3), 259–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2019.1686440
Liang, Z., Suntrayuth, S., Sun, X., & Su, J. (2023). Positive verbal rewards, creative Self-Efficacy, and creative behavior: A perspective of cognitive Appraisal Theory. Behavioral Sciences, 13(3), 229–244. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13030229
Liu, D., Chen, X. P., & Yao, X. (2011). From autonomy to creativity: A multilevel investigation of the mediating role of harmonious passion. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(2), 294–309. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021294
Liu, D., Jiang, K., Shalley, C. E., Keem, S., & Zhou, J. (2016). Motivational mechanisms of employee creativity: A meta-analytic examination and theoretical extension of the creativity literature. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 137, 236–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.08.001
Liu, H., Dust, S. B., Xu, M., & Ji, Y. (2021). Leader–follower risk orientation incongruence, intellectual stimulation, and creativity: A configurational approach. Personnel Psychology, 74(1), 143–173. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12417
Mauno, S., Mäkikangas,A., & Kinnunen, U. (2016). A longitudinal person-centred approach to the job demands-control model. European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 25(6), 914–927. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2016.1187135
Meier, L. L., Semmer, N. K., Elfering, A., & Jacobshagen, N. (2008). The double meaning of control: Three-way interactions between internal resources, job control, and stressors at work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 13(3), 244–258. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.13.3.244
Navajas-Romero, V., Caridad y López del Río, L., & Ceular-Villamandos, N. (2020). Analysis of well-being in nongovernmental organizations’ workplace in a developed area context. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(16), 1661–7827. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165818
Ng, T. W. H., Shao, Y., Koopmann, J., Wang, M., Hsu, D. Y., & Yim, F. H. K. (2022). The effects of idea rejection on creative self-efficacy and idea generation: Intention to remain and perceived innovation importance as moderators. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43(1), 146–163. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2567
Ohly, S., Sonnentag, S., & Pluntke, F. (2006). Routinization, work characteristics and their relationships with creative and proactive behaviors. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27(3), 257–279. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.376
Ostroff, C., & Schulte, M. (2007). Multiple perspectives of fit in organizations across levels of analysis. In C. Ostroff, & T. A. Judge (Eds.), Perspectives on organizational fit (pp. 3–69). Erlbaum.
Panari, C., Guglielmi, D., Simbula, S., & Depolo, M. (2010). Can an opportunity to learn at work reduce stress? Journal of Workplace Learning, 22(3), 166–179. https://doi.org/10.1108/13665621011028611
Parker, S. K., Morgeson, F. P., & Johns, G. (2017). One hundred years of work design research: Looking back and looking forward. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 403–420. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000106
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B. & Lee, J. Y. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Portoghese, I., Galletta, M., Leiter, M. P., Finco, G., & Campagna, M. (2020). Job demand-control-support latent profiles and their relationships with interpersonal stressors, job burnout, and intrinsic work motivation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(24), 1661–7827. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249430
Rijk, A. E., Blanc, P. M., le, Schaufeli, W. B., & Jonge, J. (1998). Active coping and need for control as moderators of the job demand-control model: Effects on burnout. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 71(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1998.tb00658.x
Sacramento, C. A., Fay, D., & West, M. A. (2013). Workplace duties or opportunities? Challenge stressors, regulatory focus, and creativity. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 121(2), 141–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2013.01.008
Spiegelaere, S. D., Gyes, G. V., Witte, H. D., Niesen, W., & Hootegem, G. V. (2014). On the relation of job insecurity, job autonomy, innovative work behaviour and the mediating effect of work engagement. Creativity and Innovation Management, 23(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/caim.12079
Su, X., Wong, V., Kwan, C. K., & Mok, L. (2022). The impact of collective psychological ownership on Social Workers’ Work Engagement in the job demands-resources Model. Human Service Organizations: Management Leadership & Governance, 46(3), 224–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/23303131.2021.2007195
Sun, S., Wang, N., Zhu, J., & Song, Z. (2020). Crafting job demands and employee creativity: A diary study. Human Resource Management, 59(6), 569–583. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22013
Sun, L. Y., Li, C., Pan, W., et al. (2023). Justice climate and employee creativity in the work uncertainty context: A cross-level investigation. Asian Business & Management, 22, 1065–1093. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41291-022-00191-5
Thomson, P., & Jaque, S. V. (2023). Creativity, emotion regulation, and maladaptive daydreaming. Creativity Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2023.2230022
Tierney, P., & Farmer, S. M. (2002). Creative self-efficacy: Its potential antecedents and relationship to creative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 45(6), 1137–1148. https://doi.org/10.5465/3069429
Tierney, P., & Farmer, S. M. (2011). Creative self-efficacy development and creative performance over time. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(2), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020952
Unsworth, K. L., & Clegg, C. W. (2010). Why do employees undertake creative action? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(1), 77–99. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317908X398377
van Ruysseveldt, J., & van Dijke, M. (2011). When are workload and workplace learning opportunities related in a curvilinear manner? The moderating role of autonomy. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(2), 470–483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.03.003
van Yperen, N. W., & Hagedoorn, M. (2003). Do high job demands increase intrinsic motivation or fatigue or both? The role of Job Control and Job Social Support. Academy of Management Journal, 46(3), 339–348. https://doi.org/10.5465/30040627
Vleugels, W., Verbruggen, M., De Cooman, R., & Billsberry, J. (2023). A systematic review of temporal person-environment fit research: Trends, developments, obstacles, and opportunities for future research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 44(2), 376–398. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2607
Wang, P. (2020). Core job characteristic and uncertainty avoidance: Into the black box of transformational leadership effect on creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior, 54(2), 311–322. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.367
Wei, J. O., Michael, D., & Johnson (2023). Toward a configural theory of job demands and resources. Academy of Management Journal, 66(1), 195–221. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2020.0493
Wu, T. J., Yuan, K. S., Yen, D. C., & Yeh, C. F. (2023). The effects of JDC model on burnout and work engagement: A multiple interaction analysis. European Management Journal, 41(3), 395–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2022.02.001
Yan, D. X., Wen, F. L., Li, X. Y., & Zhang, Y. Q. (2020). The relationship between psychological capital and innovation behaviour in Chinese nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 28(3), 471–479. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12926
Yin, W., & Liu, S. (2022). The relationship between empowering leadership and radical creativity. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1002356. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1002356
Yoo, S., Jang, S., Ho, Y., Seo, J., & Yoo, M. H. (2019). Fostering workplace creativity: Examining the roles of job design and organizational context. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 57(2), 127–149. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12186
Zhang, X., & Bartol, K. M. (2010). Linking empowering leadership and employee creativity: The influence of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative process engagement. Academy of Management Journal, 53(1), 107–128. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.48037118
Zhang, Z., Wang, M., & Shi, J. (2012). Leader-follower congruence in proactive personality and work outcomes: The mediating role of leader-member exchange. Academy of Management Journal, 55(1), 111–130. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2009.0865
Zhang, Y. N., Li, P., Zhang, Z. S., Zhang, X. L., & Shi, J. N. (2022). The relationships of parental responsiveness, teaching responsiveness, and creativity: The mediating role of creative self-efficacy. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 748321. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748321
Zhou, J., & George, J. M. (2001). When job dissatisfaction leads to creativity: Encouraging the expression of voice. Academy of Management Journal, 44(4), 682–696. https://doi.org/10.5465/3069410
Zhou, Q., Hirst, G., & Shipton, H. (2011). Promoting creativity at work: The role of problem-solving demand. Applied Psychology, 61(1), 56–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2011.00455.x
Zhou, Q., Hirst, G., & Shipton, H. (2012). Context matters: Combined influence of participation and intellectual stimulation on the promotion focus-employee creativity relationship. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33(7), 894–909. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.779
Funding
“Balance and win-win between creativity and in-role performance: A perspective on Job demand-control matching” (71,902,176) supported by “the National Natural Science Foundation of China”.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
Ethics approval statement
The study procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of University of Dalian University of Technology and were in line with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was signed and obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Du, Y., Xiao, M., Li, Z. et al. Effect of job demands-control match on employee creativity: perspective of match in the context of job design. Curr Psychol 43, 13706–13720 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05448-6
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05448-6