This paper studies the antecedents of individual improvisation in the ad-hoc coimprovisation context. The paper explores how the intra-personal factors self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation, and the inter-individual or other-focused psychological factor of positive affect are related with individual improvisation in ad hoc co-improvisation event. This is important for two reasons. First, improvisation is an increasingly important ability of individuals, teams and organizations working in various forms of temporary settings. Second, it is important to understand, what the simultaneous effect of both intra-personal (self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation) and the situation related inter-individual (otherfocused) factors are for one’s improvising. The study explores the relationships of these variables through the SEM-PLS path model with a data sample of 70 respondents collected from four co-improvisation workshops. The results indicate, that self-efficacy relates with individual improvisation. In addition, the positive affect moderates the relationship between intrinsic motivation and individual improvisation, and that this interaction effect is significant, strong and negative. The study contributes on the discussion of the antecedents of temporariness and suggests improvisation as a promising approach for individuals to deal and cope in such emerging conditions.
Keywords – Individual improvisation, self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, positive affect, PLS