Leader status behaviors and team creativity: The role of collective interactions and status conflict among members

Summary By integrating the leadership and status literature, this study explores the intervening mechanisms through which different forms of leader status‐claiming behaviors predict team creativity. We propose that leaders' prestige‐ and dominance‐oriented status behaviors are positively related to supportive and coercive interactions among members, respectively, which in turn predict team creativity. Empirical analysis based on the multisource data of 53 work teams confirmed that leader prestige behavior exerted a positive indirect effect on team creativity through increased supportive intermember interaction. The indirect effect of leader prestige behavior was significant only when team status conflict was low. By contrast, leader dominance behavior exhibited a positive effect on coercive intermember interaction, which was not significantly related to team creativity. A post hoc analysis revealed that leader dominance behavior had a negative indirect effect on team creativity through decreased supportive interaction among members. This study provides meaningful theoretical insights into the interactive effects of leader status behaviors and team status conflict that lead to distinct collective group processes and team creative output.