When Information Feels Unfair: How Humor and Initiative Keep Creativity Alive

What is it about?

This study explores how employees react when organizational authorities are not open or fair in sharing information, and how this affects workplace creativity. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, the authors argue that unfair information provision—an instance of informational injustice—drains emotional resources, increases job dissatisfaction, and reduces employees’ motivation to pursue new ideas. Because creativity requires discretionary effort, workers who feel shortchanged by leaders tend to conserve energy rather than invest it in improvement-oriented activities. The research draws on survey data from employees in a large oil and gas company in Angola. Analyses reveal a mediated pathway: perceived unfair information provision increases job dissatisfaction, which then reduces creativity. The study also tests whether personal resources alter this pattern. Results show that adaptive humor and proactivity both lessen the impact of unfair information on dissatisfaction and of dissatisfaction on creativity. Employees high in humor or initiative are thus less affected by poor communication. Practically, the findings suggest two levers. First, leaders should improve informational fairness—timely, candid, tailored explanations—to avoid triggering the dissatisfaction that stifles creativity. Second, when full transparency isn’t feasible, organizations can still protect creativity by cultivating personal coping resources (e.g., encouraging healthy humor, hiring for or developing proactivity). These resources help employees replenish energy and keep advocating new ideas even under imperfect communication conditions.

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Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study is unique in linking informational injustice—unfair or opaque communication from leaders—to reduced workplace creativity through job dissatisfaction. By uncovering how emotional resource loss explains this connection, it extends Conservation of Resources theory to the domain of communication fairness. It also highlights adaptive humor and proactivity as personal buffers that protect creativity under poor information conditions, revealing how individual strengths can offset organizational shortcomings. This study is timely, as many organizations face intense competition and communication limits where full transparency is difficult. Evidence from Angola’s oil and gas sector shows that creativity endures when employees use humor and initiative to offset informational gaps. For leaders, the takeaway is clear: strengthen informational fairness while developing employees’ coping and initiative skills to sustain innovation even when communication isn’t perfect.