A comparison of self-ratings and non-self-report measures of employee creativity

Abstract

Both self-ratings and non-self-report measures of employee creativity (supervisor ratings, peer ratings, and objective measures of creativity) have been used frequently in the literature, but there have been no attempts to compare research results using different types of creativity measures. In the present meta-analysis, we examined the relationships of a wide array of personal characteristics and contextual factors with both types of creativity measures. The results suggest that, in a majority of cases, effect sizes are larger when self-ratings of employee creativity are used. The article concludes with a discussion of the circumstances when inflation of observed correlations is most likely to occur, some steps for reducing inflated observed correlations, and other issues germane to empirical creativity research. © The Author(s) 2012.