Creativity Under Pressure: How Passion, Emotion Sharing, and Commitment Protect Novel Ideas

What is it about?

This study examines how work overload undermines employees’ creativity and how three key emotional–motivational resources—passion for work, emotion sharing, and affective commitment—help preserve creative engagement under strain. Grounded in the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model, the authors argue that while heavy workloads drain energy and focus, these resources can replenish psychological strength and sustain creative performance. Using survey data from employees in Mexican organizations, the study finds that work overload diminishes creativity by exhausting the energy needed for idea generation and innovation. Yet this effect weakens among employees with strong passion for work, which renews motivation and persistence. Emotion sharing with colleagues further helps relieve stress and restore balance, while affective commitment nurtures engagement, allowing employees to remain creative despite demanding conditions. Overall, the findings highlight that creativity does not vanish under stress when employees have the emotional and social resources to replenish their energy. Encouraging authentic passion, open emotional exchange, and strong organizational bonds can therefore help organizations maintain innovation, even in high-demand environments.

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Photo by Cherrydeck on Unsplash

Photo by Cherrydeck on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study is unique in showing that passion for work, emotion sharing, and affective commitment jointly act as buffers that protect creativity from the harmful effects of work overload. Within the JD–R framework, it demonstrates how personal and interpersonal resources sustain employees’ capacity for creative engagement despite heavy job demands. Unlike prior research focusing on structural job redesign, this study emphasizes the psychological and relational energy sources that enable employees to remain innovative under pressure. It is also timely, given today’s widespread challenges of workload intensification and burnout across organizations. Conducted in Mexico, a context that values interpersonal warmth and emotional connectedness, the findings highlight that maintaining creativity in demanding workplaces depends on cultivating emotional resilience and relational support. Organizations that invest in fostering passion, enabling open emotion sharing, and strengthening affective commitment can transform overload from a threat into an opportunity—preserving both employee well-being and the flow of creative ideas.