IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v15y2025i2p21582440251334220.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Solving the Boredom Puzzle: Exploring Creativity With Self-Distancing in a Moderated Mediation Model

Author

Listed:
  • Miaomiao Li
  • Peihao Wang

Abstract

While boredom proneness has been widely studied, debate continues about whether it enhances or impedes creativity. This study examined the mediating role of self-distancing and the moderating effect of workplace anxiety on the relationship between boredom proneness and creativity. Drawing on self-distancing theory, this study applied a moderated mediation model to explore the relationship between boredom proneness and creativity. The analysis of data from 283 employees revealed a significant positive relationship between boredom proneness and creativity, as well as a notable positive association between self-distancing and creativity. These findings suggested that self-distancing mediates the relationship between boredom proneness and creativity. Furthermore, workplace anxiety intensified the indirect effect of boredom proneness on creativity through self-distancing. This study deepens the understanding of boredom proneness and creativity offering valuable theoretical and practical insights within the self-distancing framework.

Suggested Citation

  • Miaomiao Li & Peihao Wang, 2025. "Solving the Boredom Puzzle: Exploring Creativity With Self-Distancing in a Moderated Mediation Model," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(2), pages 21582440251, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:15:y:2025:i:2:p:21582440251334220
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440251334220
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440251334220
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440251334220?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:15:y:2025:i:2:p:21582440251334220. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.