The power of the feedback environment in stimulating creative performance: the role of task autonomy and self-concordance

This study examines the impact of employees’ perceptions of their feedback environment on their level of creativity. Hierarchical regression analysis of a sample of 482 supervisor-employee dyads demonstrated that employees’ perceptions of their feedback environment indirectly influenced their creative performance by increasing their level of self-concordance, i.e., the degree to which they internalize their work goals and consider these goals as an expression of their authentic interests and values. In addition, moderated mediation analysis revealed that autonomy moderates the relationship between employees’ feedback environment perceptions and self-concordance. This moderated mediation model was supported for feedback environment perceptions relating to two important feedback sources in the workplace, supervisors and coworkers. The moderating effect of autonomy was especially strong for the coworker feedback environment model, such that the positive effect of coworker feedback environment perceptions on creative performance through self-concordance only held when employees experienced high levels of task autonomy. The results of the present study highlight the relevance of relating the broader psychological feedback context to creative performance and emphasize the importance of investigating the mechanisms that mediate and moderate this relationship.