When Does Being Creative Lead to Being Rated as Creative? The Moderating Role of Perceived Probability of Successfully Bringing Ideas to a Supervisor's Attention

This study examined 2 variables often assumed to be positively related in research examining creativity in the workplace: an employee's objective creativity (independent of supervisor perceptions) and a supervisor's rating of that employee's creativity at work. This direct relationship was examined not only to explore if the common assumption of correlation was indeed well-founded, but also to consider a relational aspect of supervisor perceptions of creativity at work. Specifically, perceived probability of successfully bringing ideas to a supervisor's attention was tested as a moderator of the relationship between employee creativity and supervisor perceptions of employee creativity at work. This study found that employee creativity, measured objectively and independently of a supervisor's perception, was not significantly related to supervisor ratings of creativity. However, when employees perceived a high probability of successfully bringing ideas to a supervisor's attention, that relationship was strongly positive. This study points to the importance of research distinguishing between objectively generating ideas and being evaluated as creative. Also, this research highlights how supervisor perceptions of an employee's creativity at work more closely approximates employee creativity when the employee perceives success in gaining a supervisor's attention for ideas.