The Impact of Super Leadership on Employee Creativity : Mediating Effects of Organizational Identification and Psychological Entitlement

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In the context of the knowledge-based economy, employee creativity has become a critical driver of organizational innovation, adaptability, and long-term competitiveness. As organizations face increasing environmental complexity and intensified competition, traditional leadership approaches centered on hierarchical control and extrinsic motivation have proven insufficient to sustain employees’ creative engagement. Against this backdrop, super leadership, which emphasizes “leading others to lead themselves,” has emerged as a promising leadership paradigm that focuses on empowering employees, cultivating self-leadership, and activating intrinsic motivation. Despite growing scholarly interest in super leadership, empirical research examining its psychological mechanisms and contextual boundary conditions remains limited. In particular, existing studies have seldom integrated multiple mediating pathways or examined how negative organizational climates may constrain the effectiveness of super leadership. Addressing these gaps, the present study develops and tests a comprehensive theoretical model to explore the impact of super leadership on employee creativity, incorporating organizational identification and psychological entitlement as mediating variables, and organizational cynicism as a moderating variable. To empirically test the proposed model, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted among employees from organizations across multiple industries in China. Data were collected using established measurement scales for super leadership, employee creativity, organizational identification, psychological entitlement, and organizational cynicism. After data screening, statistical analyses were performed using SPSS, Stata and M-plus, including descriptive statistics, reliability and validity tests, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling. Mediation and moderation effects were examined through regression-based path analysis and interaction tests, while common method bias was assessed using multiple diagnostic procedures to ensure the robustness of the findings. Drawing upon social identity theory, self-determination theory, and social exchange theory, this study proposes that super leadership enhances employee creativity through two distinct yet complementary psychological mechanisms. First, by articulating a shared vision, fostering autonomy, and encouraging self-regulation, super leaders strengthen employees’ organizational identification, thereby motivating them to internalize organizational goals and invest creative effort for collective success. Second, through empowerment and delegation, super leadership enhances employees’ sense of psychological entitlement—defined as the perceived legitimacy of one’s rights, autonomy, and influence within the organization—which in turn increases confidence, initiative, and willingness to engage in creative experimentation. At the same time, this study argues that these positive effects are not unconditional. Organizational cynicism, characterized by employees’ distrust toward organizational intentions and skepticism about leadership motives, is expected to weaken the influence of super leadership on employees’ psychological states and creative outcomes. This study makes several important theoretical contributions. First, it extends the literature on leadership and creativity by providing empirical evidence for the effectiveness of super leadership, an underexplored leadership paradigm, in promoting employee creativity. Second, by integrating organizational identification and psychological entitlement as dual mediators, this research opens the “black box” of the super leadership–creativity relationship and offers a more nuanced understanding of its underlying psychological mechanisms. Third, by introducing organizational cynicism as a contextual moderator, this study advances the contextualized perspective of leadership effectiveness and highlights the importance of organizational climate in shaping leadership outcomes. Furthermore, by conducting empirical research in the Chinese context, this study contributes to the localization and cross-cultural validation of super leadership theory, demonstrating its applicability beyond Western organizational settings. From a practical perspective, the findings offer valuable implications for organizational management. Organizations seeking to enhance employee creativity should prioritize the development of super leadership capabilities among managers, focusing on empowerment, coaching, and autonomy support. At the same time, organizations should actively cultivate employees’ organizational identification and ensure that empowerment practices are accompanied by fair systems and clear role expectations to foster healthy psychological entitlement. Moreover, managers should be attentive to the presence of organizational cynicism and take proactive steps—such as transparent communication, trust-building, and ethical leadership—to mitigate its negative effects and create a supportive environment in which super leadership can function effectively. Despite its contributions, this study has several limitations that warrant future research. The use of cross-sectional survey data limits causal inference, and future studies could adopt longitudinal or experimental designs to strengthen causal validity. Additionally, the reliance on self-reported measures may introduce response bias, suggesting the value of incorporating multi-source or objective data in future research. Finally, future studies could explore additional mediators or moderators, such as psychological safety, trust, or cultural values, to further enrich the understanding of super leadership and employee creativity. In conclusion, this study provides a comprehensive and integrative examination of how super leadership influences employee creativity through multiple psychological mechanisms and under varying organizational conditions. By highlighting both its enabling processes and contextual constraints, this research contributes to leadership theory and offers actionable insights for organizations striving to sustain creativity and innovation in an increasingly complex and dynamic environment.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Chapter 1 Introduction 1
• 1.1 Research Background 1
• 1.2 Research Purpose and Significance 2
• 1.3 Research Content and Methods 4
• 1.4 Research process and Innovation 5
• Chapter 2 Literature Review 7
• 2.1 Super Leadership 7
• 2.1.1 Concept of Super Leadership 7
• 2.1.2 Measurement of Super Leadership 8
• 2.1.3 Antecedent Variables of Super Leadership 10
• 2.1.4 Outcome Variables of Super Leadership 11
• 2.2 Employee Creativity 13
• 2.2.1 Concept of Employee Creativity 13
• 2.2.2 Measurement of Employee Creativity 15
• 2.2.3 Antecedent Variables of Employee Creativity 16
• 2.2.4 Outcome Variables of Employee Creativity 19
• 2.3 Organizational Identification 21
• 2.3.1 Concept of Organizational Identification 21
• 2.3.2 Measurement of Organizational Identification 22
• 2.3.3 Antecedent Variables of Organizational Identification 24
• 2.3.4 Outcome Variables of Organizational Identification 26
• 2.4 Psychological Entitlement 27
• 2.4.1 Concept of Psychological Entitlement 27
• 2.4.2 Measurement of Psychological Entitlement 29
• 2.4.3 Antecedent Variables of Psychological Entitlement 30
• 2.4.4 Outcome Variables of Psychological Entitlement 32
• 2.5 Organizational Cynicism 33
• 2.5.1 Concept of Organizational Cynicism 33
• 2.5.2 Measurement of Organizational Cynicism 35
• 2.5.3 Antecedents of Organizational Cynicism 36
• 2.5.4 Outcome Variables of Organizational Cynicism 38
• Chapter 3 Research Hypotheses and Models 40
• 3.1 Theoretical Basis 40
• 3.1.1 Social Identity Theory 40
• 3.1.2 Self-Determination Theory 40
• 3.1.3 Social Exchange Theory 41
• 3.2 Research Hypotheses 41
• 3.2.1 Super Leadership and Employee Psychology 41
• 3.2.2 Organizational Identification and Employee Creativity 45
• 3.2.3 Psychological Entitlement and Employee Creativity 45
• 3.2.4 Mediating Role of Organizational Identification 46
• 3.2.5 Mediating Role of Psychological Entitlement 46
• 3.2.6 Moderating Role of Organizational Cynicism 47
• 3.3 Summary of Research Hypotheses 49
• 3.4 Research Model 49
• Chapter 4 Research Design 51
• 4.1 Questionnaire Design 51
• 4.2 Measurement and Scale of Research Variables 51
• 4.2.1 Measurement of Super Leadership 52
• 4.2.2 Measurement of Employee Creativity 53
• 4.2.3 Measurement of Organizational Identification 53
• 4.2.4 Measurement of Psychological Entitlement 54
• 4.2.5 Measurement of Organizational Cynicism 54
• 4.2.6 Control Variables 55
• 4.3 Data Collection Methods 55
• Chapter 5 Data Analysis 57
• 5.1 Sample Structure 57
• 5.2 Descriptive Statistics 59
• 5.3 Reliability Analysis 60
• 5.4 Validity Analysis 61
• 5.4.1 Construct Validity 62
• 5.4.2 Convergent Validity 63
• 5.4.3 Discriminant Validity 64
• 5.5 Common Method Bias Test 65
• 5.6 Correlation Analysis 65
• Chapter 6 Hypothesis Testing 67
• 6.1 Path Analysis and Mediation Effect Test 67
• 6.2 Moderating Effect Test 68
• 6.3 Moderated Mediation Effect Test 72
• 6.4 Summary of Hypothesis Tests 73
• Chapter 7 Conclusions 75
• 7.1 Research Conclusions 75
• 7.2 Theoretical Contributions 77
• 7.3 Practical Implications 78
• 7.4 Research Limitations and Future Research 80
• References 82