How Does a Reward for Creativity Program Benefit or Frustrate Employee Creative Performance? The Perspective of Transactional Model of Stress and Coping

Abstract

We explore the effect of a reward for creativity program on employee creativity in organizations by investigating the underlying mechanisms based on the transactional model of stress and coping-a novel theoretical perspective for this research area. We theorize and find in two field studies that challenge appraisal of a reward for creativity program (perceived potential for gain, growth, or mastery) is positively related to problemfocused coping, which in turn predicts high creative performance. By contrast, threat appraisal of a reward for creativity program (perceived potential for harms or losses) is positively related to emotion-focused coping in the form of blaming, which in turn predicts low creative performance. Our findings also support the different indirect effects of the two appraisals of a reward for creativity program on creative performance through coping strategies. In addition, we find self-efficacy that is an antecedent of individual appraisals.

Moral Leadership, Shared Values, Employee Engagement, and Staff Job Performance in the University Value Chain

“…The regression result for model 1 (see Table 5) has implicated that value-reward leadership practice significantly relates to productivity of the university's academic and non-academic staffs. Building on that premise it stands to affirm how enforcing integrative and coherent reward system, revolving around equity, justice, and fair play is critical to unleashing staff's creative and innovative thinking on one hand (Li, Chen, & Lai, 2017;Al Darmaki, Omar, & Wan Ismail, 2019) and the integrity and oneness of the group on the other hand (Fudge & Schlacter, 1999).…”

Collateral damage associated with performance-based pay: the role of stress appraisals

“…Although research has primarily focused on the impact of stress appraisal for strainrelated outcomes, the original theory proposed that stress appraisals could have broad implications for a range of outcomes in the context of an unfolding stressful situation, including motivational and social consequences (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Indeed, scholars have found that challenge appraisal of workplace stressors is negatively associated with workplace procrastination (Prem et al, 2018), whereas hindrance appraisal is associated with more procrastination (Prem et al, 2018) and less creative performance (Espedido & Searle, 2018;Li, Chen, & Lai, 2018). Moreover, there is research that demonstrates challenge job stressors (e.g., workload, responsibility, complexity) are positively associated with citizenship behaviors, whereas hindrance job stressors (e.g., role ambiguity, conflict, hassles) are negatively associated with citizenship behaviors (Rodell & Judge, 2009;Kim & Beehr, 2018; see also Webster et al, 2010), and that these associations can be both direct and indirect STRESS APPRAISALS OF PERFORMANCE PAY 9 through affective and motivational processes.…”

In the Eye of the Beholder: Challenge and Hindrance Appraisals of Work Characteristics and Their Implications for Employee’s Well-Being

“…In a related vein, Searle and Auton (2015) found that workers appraised time pressure as a challenge to the same degree as a hindrance. In summary, several empirical studies support the merits of including appraisals of job demands in work psychological research by demonstrating that these appraisals consistently explain unique variance in a study’s outcome variables (e.g., creative performance, Li et al, 2018 ; affect, Searle and Auton, 2015 ). Thus, it is imperative to extend current research to consider the role of appraisals on the effects of job characteristics.…”