Supervisor incivility and millennial employee creativity: A moderated mediation model

Abstract

Mitigating the detrimental impact of workplace incivility on employee performance and boosting millennial employee creativity are 2 common challenges for organizations around the world. Drawing on self-determination theory and social identity theory, we examined the roles of intrinsic motivation and perceived insider status in the relationship between supervisor incivility and millennial employee creativity. With data collected from 481 millennial employees in China, we found strong support for a moderated mediation model, in which the negative relationship between supervisor incivility and millennial employee creativity was mediated by intrinsic motivation, such that the mediating relationship was strengthened for employees with a low level of perceived insider status and weakened for employees with a high level of perceived insider status. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.