Team Psychological Needs and Radical versus Incremental Creativity of Work Teams

Abstract

This study distinguishes between radical and incremental creativity at the team level. In addition, group composition in terms of members' psychological needs is identified as a distinct driver of radical and incremental team creativity. Statistical analysis based on multisource data of 65 work teams shows that (a) team-level need for achievement has a negative main effect on radical team creativity, which disappears in teams with optimistic leaders; (b) team-level need for affiliation has a negative main effect on incremental team creativity, which becomes positive when teams possess high social competence; and (c) team-level need for power is positively related to radical and incremental team creativity. Our analysis demonstrates the multifaceted nature of team creativity and the distinct implications of team-level psychological needs for team creativity.