Background: University students are not creative all the time, so managing their resources proactively is essential for them to enhance creativity.
Hypotheses/Research Questions: Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we propose a theoretical model in which university students who proactively manage their vitality are more engaged in their learning and are more creative. We also tested the boundary conditions of this process.
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size: In study1, the multiwave survey data was collected from 380 university students. In study2, the date of scenario-based experiment was collected from another 120 university students.
Design: We found support for our hypotheses across a field study and an experiment.
Results: Taken togeter, the results showed that: (a) proactive vitality management was positively related to university students’ creativity, and (b) learning engagement mediated the above relationship, and (c) innovative climate enhanced the links between proactive vitality management and learning engagement, and between proactive vitality management and creativity when innovative climate was high rather than low.
Scientific Contribution: We discussed the theoretical contributions, and examined how these findings can be used in daily learning life.