Light and shadow dance together: How and when ambidextrous leadership enhances versus inhibits employee innovation

Previous studies highlight the mediating role of workplace stress in the relationship between ambidextrous leadership and employee outcomes, but findings remain complex and inconsistent. To address this, we integrate the challenge-hindrance stressor framework with ambidextrous leadership theory, proposing that ambidextrous leadership influences innovative work behavior (IWB) both positively and negatively via perceived stressors. Drawing on the resource allocation framework, we also explore the curvilinear moderating effect of conscientiousness. Using a video vignette experiment and a three-wave survey in Chinese firms, our findings revealed that ambidextrous leadership increased both challenge and hindrance stressors, which, in turn, enhanced or diminished IWB, respectively. Furthermore, conscientiousness strengthened the positive relationship between challenge stressors and IWB up to a moderate level but weakened it at high levels, while amplifying the negative relationship between hindrance stressors and IWB. These findings advance understanding of the double-edged effect of ambidextrous leadership and the role of stress perceptions.