Can Pursuing Perfection Ignite Sparks of Creativity? How and When Self-Oriented Perfectionism Leads to Radical and Incremental Creativity.

Qing Zhang, Haibo Yu, Wendi Jiang, Shanghao Song, Rui Xiong, Xiaolin Ge

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Qing ZhangSchool of Economics & Management, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China.ORCID 0009-0007-4681-2767

Haibo YuSchool of Government, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.

Wendi JiangBusiness School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.

Shanghao SongSchool of Labor Economics, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, China.ORCID 0000-0001-7589-5249

Rui XiongCollaborative Innovation Center of Assessment Toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.ORCID 0009-0001-4959-9582

Xiaolin GeSchool of Economics & Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.ORCID 0000-0002-9155-3641

Funding

Harbin Normal University 2025-KYYWF-RWSK-194National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 72601270 and 72601051

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although perfectionism has received considerable attention from organizational scholars, research on how it enhances employee creativity remains limited. Drawing on the model of proactive motivation and trait activation theory, this study investigates the relationship between employees' self-oriented perfectionism and creativity (including both radical and incremental creativity), with job crafting as a mediating mechanism. In addition, we incorporate work stress as a moderator and propose a moderated mediation model. Multi-wave survey data were collected from employees in several Chinese organizations. The results show that self-oriented perfectionism is positively associated with both radical and incremental creativity, and that job crafting mediates these relationships. Furthermore, work stress moderates the mediated relationships, such that the positive indirect associations are stronger when work stress is higher. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Indexed as

job craftingradical and incremental creativityself-oriented perfectionismwork stress

Identifiers

PMID42792449

DOI10.3390/bs16091650

PMCPMC13603681

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.