Reflecting on Death Amidst COVID-19 and Individual Creativity: Cross-Lagged Panel Data Analysis Using Four-Wave Longitudinal Data

The current COVID-19 pandemic has claimed millions of lives all across the globe, making death more salient to many who may not have been readily cognizant of their mortality. While employees in certain occupations routinely deal with the idea of death or mortality (e.g., hospital workers, firefighters, and police officers), it is uncommon for the average employee to be within an environment that makes them aware of death. However, death awareness has been found to be negatively related to many important outcomes for the organization, including creativity. In the present study, using four-wave longitudinal data collected weekly-during late-June to late-July, 2020, we examine how employees react during the initial peak of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in terms of death anxiety and death reflection (two different reactions to death awareness) and whether or not death anxiety and death reflection are related to creativity. Conducting cross-lagged panel modeling on four-wave longitudinal data obtained from 605 full-time employees, we find that positive outcomes can come from such trying times as death reflection is positively related to creativity. We offer timely, valuable implications for theory and practice.