Proactive personality, transformational leadership and ethical standards: influences on radical creativity

Purpose This study aims to investigates the influence of proactive personality on employee radical creativity through transformational leadership, professional ethical standards and creative self-efficacy. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from 343 superior–subordinate dyads in China. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to measure the validity of the variables. A regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between model assumptions. Findings The results showed that: (1) Proactive personality was positively related to employee radical creativity. (2) Transformational leadership and professional ethical standards moderated the relationship between proactive personality and radical creativity. Specifically, the relationship between proactive personality and employee radical creativity was strong, as expected. It was the strongest in the presence of high transformational leadership and high professional ethical standards. (3) Creative self-efficacy acted as a mediator in this interaction. Originality/value This study is a pioneering investigation in the Chinese context. It empirically examines the interactive relationship between proactive personality and radical creativity through transformational leadership and professional ethical standards. Additionally, it substantiates creative self-efficacy as the psychological mechanism behind this interaction. Consequently, this study offers a comprehensive framework with potential implications for personality assessments in the workplace, leadership training, criteria formulation and enhancement of radical creativity.