Task conflict and team creativity: The role of team mindfulness, experiencing tensions, and information elaboration

In this study, we examine how task conflict affects team creativity from the information processing perspective. To address this question, we develop a moderated mediation model at the team level to uncover the underlying mechanisms (i.e., experiencing tensions, information elaboration) and a conditional variable (i.e., team mindfulness). Two field studies with four-wave, multi-source samples were conducted. Results indicate that task conflict facilitates team creativity through the sequential mediation of experiencing tension and information elaboration. In addition, team mindfulness enhances the positive relationship between task conflict and experiencing tension, and the positive relationship between experienced tension and information elaboration. When team mindfulness is high, the relationship between task conflict and team creativity through the mediation of experiencing tension and information elaboration gets stronger than when it is low. We discuss theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future directions.