The article titled “A multilevel review of curvilinear effects on the creative work of teams” has been accepted for publication in Small Group Research. In his research, Stefan Razinskas not only systematically reviews the extant literature on curvilinear effects in the context of creative teamwork but also develops a synthesizing framework that establishes a more elaborate understanding of the gains and losses caused by important antecedents of creativity at the individual and team levels. This knowledge is crucial to reliably inform organizational practice about how to fully leverage the creative potential of teams. This research is published open access and can be downloaded here.

Summary

Their positive potential often diminishes or even turns negative when antecedents of creativity are taken too far. Despite empirical evidence supporting such curvilinear effects on important outcomes of creative work at the individual and team levels, their theorizing remains rather incomplete, with more attention being paid to explaining the curves’ upward rather than downward slopes. By developing a multilevel antecedent-benefit-cost (ABC) framework that synthesizes 120 quantitative-empirical studies on curvilinear effects, this review guides creativity and innovation literature toward conceptual clarity and methodological precision across levels. This is important because the cost-related mechanisms of certain antecedents are still not well understood.