Team leader hypocrisy and team creativity: Team knowledge sharing as a mediator and team identity as a moderator

Despite its potential to erode critical team dynamics, the specific impact of team leader hypocrisy on team creativity has been largely overlooked. Drawing on social identity theory, we examined how team leader hypocrisy affects team creativity, considering team knowledge sharing as a mediator and team identity as a moderator. The sample comprised 98 midlevel managers and 410 team members across various industries in China. The data analysis results revealed that team leader hypocrisy negatively influenced team creativity via team knowledge sharing. In addition, team identity lessened the impact of team leader hypocrisy on team knowledge sharing, as well as the indirect effect of team leader hypocrisy on team creativity. Our research contributes to the literature by highlighting why, how, and when team leader hypocrisy impacts team creativity, and also provides practical implications for organizations to enhance team creativity and reduce the harmful impact of team leader hypocrisy.