Abusive supervision and employee creativity: a moderated mediation model

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the harmful effect of abusive supervision on employee creativity through feedback-seeking behavior (FSB) and the moderation of this mediation by proactive personality. Design/methodology/approach This study conducted hierarchical regression and path analysis to analyze the 341 manager-employee dyads data gathered from 11 companies in China. Findings The results reveal that abusive supervision had a detrimental effect on employee creativity partially mediated by employee FSB, and employees' proactive personality moderated the mediation. Originality/value This study re-examines the relationship between abusive supervision and employee creativity in the Chinese context from the social exchange perspective. The mediating role of FSB and the moderating role of proactive personality offer new insights in-to the mechanisms and boundary conditions associated with the relationship between abusive supervision and employee creativity.