SUPERVISOR’S SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC CREATIVITY: UNRAVELING THE CONDITIONAL ROLE OF OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE

Abstract

This study looks at how university faculty members' perceptions of their supervisors' support, their openness to new experiences, and their own creativity interact. The organizational behavior and the psyche of their personalities can establish that, the perception of the employees towards the support of their supervisors plays a large role in their participation in creativity. Moreover, people who are distinguished by high openness, which is defined by intellectual curiosity, aesthetic experience, and openness to new ideas, are just predisposed to creative activities. Supervisory influences of the helpful nature are assumed to further increase this tendency, creating the kind of the environment in which the creativity is allowed to express itself. The findings were obtained through purposive convenience sample of 250 faculty members (113 females; 137 males) at Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. Three standardized questionnaires the Big Five Personality Inventory, the Gough Creative Personality Scale, and the Work Environment Scale were included in the survey booklet. Statistical studies showed that supervisor support significantly reduced the effects of openness on creativity, with open persons exhibiting higher levels of creativity when they believe they are receiving high levels of supervisor support. The results demonstrate how important effective leadership is in fostering faculty members' creativity, particularly those who have a creative tendency.