Positive Verbal Rewards, Creative Self-Efficacy, and Creative Behavior: A Perspective of Cognitive Appraisal Theory

Abstract

The creative behavior of cultural innovation team members is the key to driving the team forward. Previous studies have relatively neglected the dynamic mechanism of positive verbal rewards on the creative behavior of cultural innovation team members. This paper, drawing on cognitive appraisal theory, focuses on the dynamic mechanism of positive verbal rewards on the creative behavior of cultural innovation team members and the moderating effect of positive affectivity. Based on the survey of 211 cultural innovation team members in Guangdong, China, this paper constructs a relationship model between positive verbal reward, creative self-efficacy, positive affectivity, and members’ creative behaviors and empirically tests the model. The results of statistical data analysis show that positive verbal reward has a significant positive impact on members’ creative behavior. Creative self-efficacy partially mediates between positive verbal rewards and members’ creative behavior; positive affectivity moderates the positive influence of creative self-efficacy on members’ creative behavior. The higher the level of positive affectivity, the stronger the positive impact of positive verbal rewards on members’ creative behavior, and vice versa. The above research findings help clarify the mechanism of positive verbal rewards on the cultural innovation team members’ creative behaviors in the context of Chinese organizations and provide theoretical support for cultural innovation team management practices.

Keywords

• cognitive appraisal theory
• positive verbal rewards
• members’ creative behavior
• positive affectivity
• intermediate adjustment effect