The case for humble and narcissistic leadership: creative self-efficacy and idea generation in entrepreneurial settings

Based on social-cognitive theory and a paradox perspective, this dissertation explores how leader narcissism and leader humility together moderate the influence of domain-specific self-efficacy on the type-specific innovative work behavior in entrepreneurial settings. This multilevel framework answers the repeated calls for theorizing and examining the joint effects of multiple leader traits. It offers novel insights to understand the interaction effects of leader humility and narcissism in the entrepreneurial context. By focusing on idea generation, this dissertation also clarifies areas of the ambiguity in prior research on innovative work behavior. I use a three-phase design for this study. First, I assess the psychometric properties of the focal constructs with a sample of 98 students. I further refine the measures and check their consistency with 380 participants from Amazon M-Turk. Consistent results from Phase 1 and Phase 2 show the scales are reliable and valid. I conclude by testing the hypothesis with a matched sample of 60 leaders and their 137 followers from new ventures in China and Ghana, using multilevel modeling. Insights from this dissertation have important implications for both theory and practice in the field of entrepreneurship, leadership, and innovative work behavior.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Entrepreneurship and Innovation (UMKC)

Grantor

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Zeng, Xiaodan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Anderson, Brian S.

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10355/75524

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/75524