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This study aims to examine the relationship between a team’s value diversity (VD) and creativity and investigate the moderating effect of emotional intelligence (EI) to explain inconsistent results regarding this relationship.

We conducted a cross-sectional sequential study with 340 employees and tested the hypothesis in a laboratory setting with 180 undergraduate students.

EI had a moderating effect on the relationship between a team’s VD and creativity in that the relationship was positive among teams with high EI. However, the relationship tended to be negative in the long term among teams with low EI.

Managers should pay attention to how teams benefit from VD because it can help or harm team performance. By assigning people with different EI levels into suitable teams and providing EI interventions, organizations may manage affective consequences and enjoy more benefits of cognitive consequences resulting from VD.

No previous study has investigated the effect of a team’s EI in the relationship between VD and team creativity. Drawing on the categorization-elaboration model of diversity and affective events theory, through the present two-study design, we obtained data from multiple sources and improved limitations in measurements of previous studies, thereby broadening the literature by highlighting the dynamic relationship between a team’s EI, VD and creativity in the Vietnamese context.