How does work passion affect employees’ radical and incremental creativity? —— A three-way interaction model

Integrating the componential theory of creativity and the dualistic model of passion, this research investigates the differential impacts of harmonious and obsessive passion on both employees’ radical creativity and incremental creativity. We propose that these impacts are moderated by employees’ external search and cognitive styles. An investigation involving 330 leader–subordinate dyads from 75 groups was conducted to test the three-way interaction among the two types of work passion, external search breadth and depth, and cognitive styles. The results indicate that employees who simultaneously possess harmonious passion, intuitive processing, a moderate breadth and a high depth of external search exhibit the highest radical creativity, while employees who simultaneously possess obsessive passion, analytical processing, a moderate breadth and a high depth of external search exhibit the highest incremental creativity. Our research provides a novel integrative framework that clarifies previously inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between work passion and creativity.