How does work curiosity affect employees' creativity and innovation: Do task characteristics matter?

IF 10.9 1区管理学 Q1 ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL

Technovation Pub Date : 2025-06-11 DOI:10.1016/j.technovation.2025.103288

Huei-Ying Chen , Yu-Yu Chang , Yun-Ju Yang

{"title":"How does work curiosity affect employees' creativity and innovation: Do task characteristics matter?","authors":"Huei-Ying Chen , Yu-Yu Chang , Yun-Ju Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.technovation.2025.103288","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how two distinct types of work curiosity, interest induction (I-type curiosity) and deprivation elimination (D-type curiosity), influence employees' creativity and innovation performance in Taiwan's high-tech industry. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory and Person-Environment Fit Theory, we propose a moderated mediation model in which I-type and D-type curiosity enhance incremental and radical creativity. These forms of creativity, in turn, mediate the relationship between work curiosity and innovation performance. Additionally, we investigate how task variety and task specialization moderate the effects of curiosity on creativity. Survey data from 402 employees across high-tech firms reveal that both types of curiosity positively influence creativity, contributing to innovation performance. Notably, task variety amplifies the effects of I-type curiosity on both incremental and radical creativity, whereas task specialization strengthens the impact of D-type curiosity on radical creativity. These findings underscore the importance of aligning task characteristics with specific types of curiosity to optimize creativity and innovation. This study advances theoretical understanding of how workplace curiosity drives innovation outcomes and offers practical insights for human resource management and task design in innovation-driven contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49444,"journal":{"name":"Technovation","volume":"146 ","pages":"Article 103288"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Technovation","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166497225001208","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study examines how two distinct types of work curiosity, interest induction (I-type curiosity) and deprivation elimination (D-type curiosity), influence employees' creativity and innovation performance in Taiwan's high-tech industry. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory and Person-Environment Fit Theory, we propose a moderated mediation model in which I-type and D-type curiosity enhance incremental and radical creativity. These forms of creativity, in turn, mediate the relationship between work curiosity and innovation performance. Additionally, we investigate how task variety and task specialization moderate the effects of curiosity on creativity. Survey data from 402 employees across high-tech firms reveal that both types of curiosity positively influence creativity, contributing to innovation performance. Notably, task variety amplifies the effects of I-type curiosity on both incremental and radical creativity, whereas task specialization strengthens the impact of D-type curiosity on radical creativity. These findings underscore the importance of aligning task characteristics with specific types of curiosity to optimize creativity and innovation. This study advances theoretical understanding of how workplace curiosity drives innovation outcomes and offers practical insights for human resource management and task design in innovation-driven contexts.

查看原文本刊更多论文

工作好奇心如何影响员工的创造力和创新能力：任务特征重要吗？

本研究旨在探讨两种不同类型的工作好奇心，即兴趣诱导（i型好奇心）和剥夺消除（d型好奇心）如何影响台湾高科技产业员工的创造力和创新绩效。基于自我决定理论和人-环境契合理论，我们提出了一个i型和d型好奇心对渐进式和激进式创造力增强的中介模型。这些形式的创造力，反过来，调解工作好奇心和创新绩效之间的关系。此外，我们还研究了任务多样性和任务专业化如何调节好奇心对创造力的影响。对高科技公司402名员工的调查数据显示，这两种好奇心都对创造力有积极影响，有助于创新绩效。值得注意的是，任务多样性放大了i型好奇心对渐进式和激进式创造力的影响，而任务专业化则强化了d型好奇心对激进式创造力的影响。这些发现强调了将任务特征与特定类型的好奇心结合起来以优化创造力和创新的重要性。本研究推进了对工作场所好奇心如何驱动创新成果的理论理解，并为创新驱动环境下的人力资源管理和任务设计提供了实践见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Technovation 管理科学-工程：工业

CiteScore

15.10

自引率

11.20%

发文量

208

审稿时长

91 days

期刊介绍： The interdisciplinary journal Technovation covers various aspects of technological innovation, exploring processes, products, and social impacts. It examines innovation in both process and product realms, including social innovations like regulatory frameworks and non-economic benefits. Topics range from emerging trends and capital for development to managing technology-intensive ventures and innovation in organizations of different sizes. It also discusses organizational structures, investment strategies for science and technology enterprises, and the roles of technological innovators. Additionally, it addresses technology transfer between developing countries and innovation across enterprise, political, and economic systems.