Creativity as a Function of Daydreaming and Cognitive Demands at Work: The Role of Openness to Experience and Neuroticism Personality States

Recent research in organizational behavior has begun to focus on the role of daydreaming in the workplace, which refers to the spontaneous shift of attention from the external environment to internally generated thoughts. Emergent research suggests that daydreaming evolving from cognitive demands at work may serve as a precursor to creativity. However, despite this incipient interest, whether, how, and why different forms of cognitive demands lead to discrete forms of daydreaming and, therefore, creative outcomes in organizations remain in their early stages. Drawing on the Situation-Based Contingency of the Personality Manifestation Model, we propose that personality states, specifically openness to experience and neuroticism, have a pivotal role in explaining the effects of problem-solving and monitoring demands on problem-constructive daydreaming and guilt and fear-of-failure daydreaming, which, in turn, have varying effects on creative thinking. Our hypotheses were tested using data from a daily diary study conducted over one workweek with professional employees across diverse organizations. This study contributes to the emerging literature on daydreaming and personality states in organizations by illuminating their role in fostering creativity within the workplace.