ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Organ. Psychol.
Sec. Employee Well-being and Health
This article is part of the Research TopicCurrent Research Methods in Organizational PsychologyView all articles
From Net Effects to Configurational Pathways: A Dual Examination of Employee Innovative Behavior through Integrated SEM-fsQCA Framework
Provisionally accepted
- Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China
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While conventional structural equation modeling (SEM) emphasizes net effects between variables, it inadequately captures the multiple equifinal pathways underlying employee innovative behavior. This study advances a methodological triangulation approach by integrating SEM with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to examine the mechanisms through which trait mindfulness influences innovative behavior. Drawing on componential creativity theory and social cognitive theory, we analyzed 297 employees from digitally transforming organizations. SEM findings reveal that trait mindfulness affects innovative behavior through work flourishing (full mediation) and organizational resilience (partial mediation), with digital leadership exerting a negative moderating effect. fsQCA subsequently identifies three equifinal configurations leading to high innovative behavior, with the "high mindfulness × high resilience" configuration emerging as the dominant pathway. This study demonstrates the methodological complementarity of SEM-fsQCA integration: whereas SEM elucidates symmetric causal relationships and average effects, fsQCA unveils asymmetric configurational patterns and necessary/sufficient conditions.
Keywords: employee trait mindfulness, Innovative behavior, work thriving, Organizational resilience, Digital leadership, Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis
Received: 21 Oct 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jiao, CHENG, Ouyang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: HAI CHENG
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