Innovation Competencies: A Review of Their Conceptualization and Components from Psychology
Keywords:
Innovation competencies, innovation at the individual level, psychology of innovation, psychological components, innovative behavior.Abstract
This paper analyzes innovation competencies from a psychological perspective at the individual level, in the context of the growing challenges faced by organizations and societies in generating creative and sustainable solutions through innovation. In contrast to the predominance of approaches focused on organizational processes, the study addresses the need to understand the personal characteristics that facilitate the generation and implementation of novel ideas, an issue relevant to the development of innovative human capital and to scientific, technological, and social progress. To this end, a narrative literature review was conducted through a search in the PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science databases covering the period 2010–2026, using purposive sampling of 29 theoretical and empirical studies. The findings indicate that innovation competencies constitute a multicomponent construct composed of cognitive components, such as creative thinking and cognitive flexibility; affective-motivational dispositions, such as innovative self-efficacy and tolerance for ambiguity; and behavioral skills, including initiative and exploration. It is concluded that the psychological perspective provides explanatory elements that complement process-oriented approaches and supports the proposal of an integrative definition useful for research, competency development, and the design of interventions aimed at strengthening innovative capacity across different social and professional contexts.
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