Individual Creative Performance in Social Networks: A Post-Structural Perspective

Abstract

This thesis consists of three essays focusing on interdisciplinary complexity of individual creativity in interpersonal networks within organizations by adopting a post-structural approach. First chapter provides a systematic literature review that gathers together and critically evaluates publications scattered across numerous domains. The analysis reveals that creativity in social networks is not stimulated solely by structural network properties, but also by series of complementary factors. Diving deep into the literature, I develop a conceptual model of individual creative process that consists of three dimensions: (1) time, including creativity continuum and network dynamics, (2) contextual characteristics, such as work environment and task, and (3) ego node’s personality traits and knowledge. Second chapter takes a closer look at personality in social networks. The aim of this chapter is to use network setting to explore the creativity of understudied category of people whose personality is naturally opposed to active networking, also known as solitary individuals. Findings reveal that creative performance of solitary creators is hindered by degree centrality, and that this relation is softened when their job rank is high. Third chapter of the thesis bridges two streams of research: cognitive social structures and individual creativity. While social networks field is rich in scholarly articles demonstrating how network properties affect creativity, the literature majorly overlooks what creative performance outcomes can individual perception of network structure lead to. Theory and findings of this study show that both network position and network cognition have separate pathways to influence individual creativity. Thus, based on post-structural approach, this thesis unveils novel mechanisms impacting creativity in social networks, introduces unconventional variables to the field, highlights the gaps and spots opportunities for future research.