Individual creativity performance and the quality of interpersonal relationships

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the exchanges that employees maintain with their immediate superior and with their work group influence the creativity that they manifest.Design methodology approach - A study was carried out among employees of a firm from the automotive sector. On the basis of previous works, the authors first built reliable multi-item scales for each variable included in the model; then, a multiple regression analysis was conducted to ascertain the causal effect of those exchanges upon creativity.Findings - The findings reveal that high-quality exchanges between the employee and their work group and, to a lesser extent, their immediate superior, have a significant positive influence on their creative behavior.Practical implications - All this underlines the importance of the composition of work groups for achieving the team environment necessary for creative production.Originality value - This paper provides new evidence about a still unexplored topic, trying to bridge the existing gap in the literature about the influence of leadership and group behavior on creativity.