E-leadership drives employee creativity through emotional exhaustion with regulatory focus as a moderator
Abstract In the digital age, e-leadership has emerged as a critical driver of employee creativity, yet the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions remain underexplored. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between E-leadership and employee creativity by examining the mediating role o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05131-9 |
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| author | Liang Zhao Hao Chen Yichao Sun Maya Luo Peng Gao |
| author_facet | Liang Zhao Hao Chen Yichao Sun Maya Luo Peng Gao |
| author_sort | Liang Zhao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In the digital age, e-leadership has emerged as a critical driver of employee creativity, yet the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions remain underexplored. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between E-leadership and employee creativity by examining the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and the moderating influences of promotion and prevention regulatory foci. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey administered to 366 employees within China's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, and the data were analyzed using hierarchical regression and bootstrapping techniques. Results demonstrate that E-leadership influences creativity through multiple concurrent pathways: a direct positive effect (β = 0.28, p 0.01, accounting for 66.7% of total effect) and an indirect effect mediated through reduced emotional exhaustion (β = 0.14, 95% CI [0.08, 0.21], representing 33.3% of total effect). These relationships are significantly moderated by regulatory focus, with promotion focus attenuating the negative association between E-leadership and emotional exhaustion (interaction β = 0.14, p = 0.01) and prevention focus exacerbating the detrimental impact of emotional exhaustion on creativity (interaction β = –0.20, p 0.01). These findings advance leadership theory by revealing how cognitive-motivational factors shape e-leadership effectiveness, with practical implications for mitigating burnout in technology-mediated work environments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b45e568511f34ee7a75a98f4e07ac9c6 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-b45e568511f34ee7a75a98f4e07ac9c62025-08-20T03:03:32ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111510.1038/s41598-025-05131-9E-leadership drives employee creativity through emotional exhaustion with regulatory focus as a moderatorLiang Zhao0Hao Chen1Yichao Sun2Maya Luo3Peng Gao4School of Economics and Management, Beijing City UniversitySchool of Humanities and Management, Youjiang Medical University for NationalitiesSchool of Education, Beijing City UniversityAdmissions Office, Jiangsu Second Normal UniversityBusiness Administration School, Guangxi University of Finance and EconomicsAbstract In the digital age, e-leadership has emerged as a critical driver of employee creativity, yet the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions remain underexplored. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between E-leadership and employee creativity by examining the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and the moderating influences of promotion and prevention regulatory foci. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey administered to 366 employees within China's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, and the data were analyzed using hierarchical regression and bootstrapping techniques. Results demonstrate that E-leadership influences creativity through multiple concurrent pathways: a direct positive effect (β = 0.28, p 0.01, accounting for 66.7% of total effect) and an indirect effect mediated through reduced emotional exhaustion (β = 0.14, 95% CI [0.08, 0.21], representing 33.3% of total effect). These relationships are significantly moderated by regulatory focus, with promotion focus attenuating the negative association between E-leadership and emotional exhaustion (interaction β = 0.14, p = 0.01) and prevention focus exacerbating the detrimental impact of emotional exhaustion on creativity (interaction β = –0.20, p 0.01). These findings advance leadership theory by revealing how cognitive-motivational factors shape e-leadership effectiveness, with practical implications for mitigating burnout in technology-mediated work environments.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05131-9E-leadershipEmployee creativityEmotional exhaustionPromoting regulatory focusPreventing regulatory focus |
| spellingShingle | Liang Zhao Hao Chen Yichao Sun Maya Luo Peng Gao E-leadership drives employee creativity through emotional exhaustion with regulatory focus as a moderator Scientific Reports E-leadership Employee creativity Emotional exhaustion Promoting regulatory focus Preventing regulatory focus |
| title | E-leadership drives employee creativity through emotional exhaustion with regulatory focus as a moderator |
| title_full | E-leadership drives employee creativity through emotional exhaustion with regulatory focus as a moderator |
| title_fullStr | E-leadership drives employee creativity through emotional exhaustion with regulatory focus as a moderator |
| title_full_unstemmed | E-leadership drives employee creativity through emotional exhaustion with regulatory focus as a moderator |
| title_short | E-leadership drives employee creativity through emotional exhaustion with regulatory focus as a moderator |
| title_sort | e leadership drives employee creativity through emotional exhaustion with regulatory focus as a moderator |
| topic | E-leadership Employee creativity Emotional exhaustion Promoting regulatory focus Preventing regulatory focus |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05131-9 |
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