Provocateurs of creative performance: Examining the roles of wisdom character strengths and stress

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the influence of employees’ character strengths of wisdom on stress and creative work performance, assuming stress to be a potential mediator.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses survey questionnaires to gather information. Using the random sampling technique, the data were collected from 753 respondents from 200 organizations of Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data in order to explore proposed relationships.

Findings

The findings of the study suggest a positive relationship between wisdom strengths and the creative work performance of employees. In addition, stress was found to be negatively associated with both wisdom strengths and creative work performance.

Research limitations/implications

The study contributes to the existing literature of human resources and positive psychology as the results of the study provide support to develop a link in research between creativity and personality, in general, and character strengths, in particular.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that by incorporating character strengths, firms may develop and foster the means that can expand the bounded rationality of employees to help them promote their creative activity and identify new and better ways to accomplish a task, thus ensuring better performance and increasing the likelihood of human resources becoming a source of competitive advantage.

Originality/value

The study is unique in its scope and implications because it focuses on empirical investigation of the effect of character strengths on stress and creative work performance in the Asian context, particularly in Pakistan.

Citation

Kalyar, M.N. and Kalyar, H. (2018), "Provocateurs of creative performance: Examining the roles of wisdom character strengths and stress", Personnel Review, Vol. 47 No. 2, pp. 334-352. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-10-2016-0286