The impact of leaders' negative emotions on employee innovation in the digital workplace

Purpose This study aims to ascertain the mechanism and boundary condition of the effect of leaders' negative emotions on employees' innovation performance in remote work. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China and 269 Chinese firms to evaluate the relationship among the constructs using hierarchical regression analysis and moderated mediation approach. Findings The results reveal that leaders' negative emotions negatively influence employees' innovation performance in remote work settings. Notably, employees' perceived insider status (EPIS) fully mediates this negative relationship. Additionally, the regional digitalization level slightly moderates the positive effect of EPIS on employees' innovation performance and positively moderates the negative impact of leaders' negative emotions on employees' innovation performance via EPIS. Originality/value This study advances emotion research from the perspective of leader-employee interaction and provides strategies for enhancing employees' innovation performance in remote work scenarios.