The Two Faces of Paradoxical Leader Behavior in Workplace Creativity: Motivation and Hindrance

The positive effects of paradoxical leader behavior have attracted extensive attention in dynamic and complex environments. However, its influence on employees’ creativity is still blurred. Drawing upon the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this study reveals the double-edged sword effects of paradoxical leader behavior on employees’ creativity via role ambiguity and creative self-efficacy. Further, this study investigates the moderating effects of job complexity and cognitive flexibility on the above effects. The responses of 317 employee-supervisor matching questionnaires indicated that: (1) paradoxical leader behavior is regarded as a hindrance that leads to role ambiguity, which is negatively related to employee creativity. Meanwhile, paradoxical leader behavior is also appraised as a motivation that is positively associated with employee creativity through creative self-efficacy; (2) cognitive flexibility and job complexity can magnify the positive impact of paradoxical leader behavior on employee creativity via creative self-efficacy, while cognitive flexibility can buffer the negative impact of paradoxical leader behavior on employee creativity via role ambiguity. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed in detail.