Leader self-deprecating humor and employee creativity at workplace: a longitudinal study

Recently, several organizations and human resource managers focused on the positive relationship between leader humor and employee creativity. Based on the superiority theory and social interaction perspective, the study examines the relationship between leader self-deprecating humor and employee creativity, and investigates the moderating effects of team harmony and organizational pride. The results using three-wave and 320 valid leader-employee dyads (115 team leaders and 320 employees) from 13 companies in Taiwan show that: (1) leader self-deprecating humor positively affects leader identification; (2) leader identification positively affects employee creativity; (3) leader identification mediates the relationship between leader self-deprecating humor and employee creativity; (4) team harmony moderates the relationship between leader self-deprecating humor and leader identification; and (5) organizational pride moderates the relationship between leader identification and employee creativity. Implications for behavioral researchers and human resource managers are discussed.