Creativity among R&D Professional: Supervisory Support and Personality Traits

The purpose of this study is to examine how supervisory support moderates the relationship between personality and creativity among R&D professional teams. A survey was conducted among 191 participants from 12 departments in the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan. Results show that supervisory support has various influences on the creativity of professionals with different personality traits. R&D professionals with openness to experience are likely to exhibit creativity only when they perceive high supervisory support. Conscientious professionals are likely to exhibit creativity when supervisors provide less support. Neuroticism was negatively related to creativity only when supervisors provide middle support. This study offers potentially invaluable referral for leaders to stimulate the creativity of subordinates.