Original Article
Benefiting from creative activity: The positive relationships between creative activity, recovery experiences, and performance‐related outcomes
Abstract
Employees have limited personal time to engage in activities that enable them to recover from a demanding work environment and perform at a high level. To evaluate the importance of non‐work creative activity, we conducted two studies that examine the relationships between non‐work creative activity, recovery experiences, and performance‐related behaviours at work. Study 1 included employees who provided self‐rated performance‐related outcomes, whereas Study 2 included employees with other‐rated (co‐workers and subordinates) performance‐related outcomes. Creative activity was positively associated with recovery experiences (i.e., mastery, control, and relaxation) and performance‐related outcomes (i.e., job creativity and extra‐role behaviours). The mediating effects of recovery experiences were examined to better understand the underlying processes involved in the relationship between creative activity and performance‐related outcomes. Creative activity was found to have both indirect effects and direct effects on performance‐related outcomes, but the effects varied by the type of performance‐related outcome. The results indicate that organizations may benefit from encouraging employees to consider creative activities in their efforts to recover from work.
Practitioner points
- Organizations should increase employee awareness of the benefits of creative activity on recovery. Many companies already provide information to employees regarding the importance of specific activities (e.g., eating habits, exercise) on physical health. Information on activities that influence recovery – a psychological health consequence – should be included in the informational resource provided to employees.
- Organizations may consider professional development opportunities for employees that involve creative activities while away from work. Creative activities are likely to provide valuable experiences of mastery and control, but may also provide employees experiences of discovery that uniquely influence performance‐related outcomes. Opportunities used by large organizations, such as Zappos Inc., include employees bringing their artwork to work to decorate their offices. Other options include memberships to art studios, creative writing resources, and access to musical instruments.
Citing Literature
Number of times cited according to CrossRef: 31
- Stacy L. Gnacinski, Mellanie Nai, Megan Brady, Barbara B. Meyer, Nate Newman, An Examination of Athletic Trainers' Occupational Recovery Experiences During Time After Work, Journal of Athletic Training, 10.4085/1062-6050-26-18, 55, 5, (532-537), (2020).
- Valeria Minucciani, Nilüfer Saglar Onay, The Well-Being Concept, Well-Being Design and Frameworks for Interior Space, 10.4018/978-1-7998-4231-6.ch001, (1-27), (2020).
- Tim Schweisfurth, Anne Greul, Work Interruptions and Creativity: Evidence from a Natural Experiment, SSRN Electronic Journal, 10.2139/ssrn.3543369, (2020).
- Subash Chandra Pattnaik, Rashmita Sahoo, Employee engagement, creativity and task performance: role of perceived workplace autonomy, South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 10.1108/SAJBS-11-2019-0196, ahead-of-print, ahead-of-print, (2020).
- Jinqiang ZHU, Shiyong XU, Jinyi ZHOU, Bainan ZHANG, Fangfang XU, Boqiang ZONG, The cross-level double-edged-sword effect of boundary-spanning behavior on creativity, Acta Psychologica Sinica, 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.01340, 52, 11, (1340), (2020).
- Anja Hagen Olafsen, Marte Bentzen, Benefits of Psychological Detachment From Work: Does Autonomous Work Motivation Play a Role?, Frontiers in Psychology, 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00824, 11, (2020).
- Shelley H. Carson, Creativity and Mental Illness, The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity, 10.1017/9781316979839, (296-318), (2019).
- Elizabeth Ablett, Heather Griffiths, Kate Mahoney, (Dis)Assembling the Neoliberal Academic Subject: When PhD Students Construct Feminist Spaces, Time and Space in the Neoliberal University, 10.1007/978-3-030-15246-8, (65-91), (2019).
- Elizabeth R. Click, Janetta M. Hammock, Brinn Omabegho, Ann Kowal Smith, Developing community relationships to enhance well‐being in a worksite wellness program, Public Health Nursing, 10.1111/phn.12605, 36, 3, (363-369), (2019).
- Clément Ginoux, Sandrine Isoard-Gautheur, Philippe Sarrazin, “Workplace Physical Activity Program” (WOPAP) study protocol: a four-arm randomized controlled trial on preventing burnout and promoting vigor, BMC Public Health, 10.1186/s12889-019-6598-3, 19, 1, (2019).
- Adela McMurray, Don Scott, Claire A. Simmers, Work values ethic and personal discretionary non-work activities, International Journal of Manpower, 10.1108/IJM-04-2018-0133, (2019).
- Karen E Atler, Julia Sharp, Reported restorative experiences associated with everyday activities among university students, British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 10.1177/0308022619859158, (030802261985915), (2019).
- Laurens Bujold Steed, Brian W. Swider, Sejin Keem, Joseph T. Liu, Leaving Work at Work: A Meta-Analysis on Employee Recovery From Work, Journal of Management, 10.1177/0149206319864153, (014920631986415), (2019).
- Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt, Alan Howarth, The arts and the social determinants of health: findings from an inquiry conducted by the United Kingdom All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Arts & Health, 10.1080/17533015.2019.1567563, (1-22), (2019).
- Francesco Montani, Ilaria Setti, Valentina Sommovigo, François Courcy, Gabriele Giorgi, Who Responds Creatively to Role Conflict? Evidence for a Curvilinear Relationship Mediated by Cognitive Adjustment at Work and Moderated by Mindfulness, Journal of Business and Psychology, 10.1007/s10869-019-09644-9, (2019).
- Hussein Nabil Ismail, Adnan Iqbal, Lina Nasr, Employee engagement and job performance in Lebanon: the mediating role of creativity, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 10.1108/IJPPM-02-2018-0052, (2019).
- Julia Rosen, How a hobby can boost researchers’ productivity and creativity, Nature, 10.1038/d41586-018-05449-7, 558, 7710, (475-477), (2018).
- Dustin Garnet, Anita Sinner, Cindy Walker, Ranya Esmat, Seonjeong Yi, Learning in the third age: drawing wisdom from reflective stories in community art education, International Journal of Lifelong Education, 10.1080/02601370.2018.1450304, 37, 3, (283-296), (2018).
- M.R. Khachaturova, A.A. Fedorova, The Influence of Stress Factors on the Effectiveness of Passing the Assessment by Employees with Different Levels of Creativity, Social Psychology and SocietyСоциальная психология и общество, 10.17759/sps.2018090108, 9, 1, (108-123), (2018).
- James Kaufman, Creativity as a Stepping Stone toward a Brighter Future, Journal of Intelligence, 10.3390/jintelligence6020021, 6, 2, (21), (2018).
- Jessica de Bloom, Johanna Rantanen, Sara Tement, Ulla Kinnunen, Longitudinal Leisure Activity Profiles and Their Associations with Recovery Experiences and Job Performance, Leisure Sciences, 10.1080/01490400.2017.1356254, 40, 3, (151-173), (2017).
- Kevin J. Eschleman, Michael Mathieu, Jehangir Cooper, Creating a Recovery Filled Weekend: The Moderating Effect of Occupation Type on the Relationship between Non-work Creative Activity and State of Feeling Recovered at Work, Creativity Research Journal, 10.1080/10400419.2017.1302756, 29, 2, (97-107), (2017).
- Brian Schuck, Susan B. Wainscott, Jennifer Church-Duran, Darcy Del Bosque, Creating a Virtuous Circle of Student Engagement with the Tech Corner, Journal of Library Administration, 10.1080/01930826.2017.1326264, 57, 5, (517-547), (2017).
- Tim Vahle-Hinz, Saija Mauno, Jessica de Bloom, Ulla Kinnunen, Rumination for innovation? Analysing the longitudinal effects of work-related rumination on creativity at work and off-job recovery, Work & Stress, 10.1080/02678373.2017.1303761, 31, 4, (315-337), (2017).
- Johannes Wendsche, Andrea Lohmann-Haislah, A Meta-Analysis on Antecedents and Outcomes of Detachment from Work, Frontiers in Psychology, 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02072, 7, (2017).
- Eiluned Pearce, Participants’ perspectives on the social bonding and well-being effects of creative arts adult education classes, Arts & Health, 10.1080/17533015.2016.1193550, 9, 1, (42-59), (2016).
- Frederik Beuk, Tim Basadur, Regulatory Focus, Task Engagement and Divergent Thinking, Creativity and Innovation Management, 10.1111/caim.12182, 25, 2, (199-210), (2016).
- Yana Du, Li Zhang, Yanhong Chen, From creative process engagement to performance: bidirectional support, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 10.1108/LODJ-03-2015-0046, 37, 7, (966-982), (2016).
- Katinka TUISKU, Marianna VIRTANEN, Jessica DE BLOOM, Ulla KINNUNEN, Cultural leisure activities, recovery and work engagement among hospital employees, INDUSTRIAL HEALTHIndustrial Health, 10.2486/indhealth.2015-0124, 54, 3, (254-262), (2016).
- Oi-Sul Jeon, Sung-Kyu Park, A Study on Factor Affecting Employee Creativity of Bank Employee in the Age of Convergence, Journal of Digital Convergence, 10.14400/JDC.2015.13.11.99, 13, 11, (99-108), (2015).
- Francesco Montani, Carlo Odoardi, Adalgisa Battistelli, Envisioning, Planning and Innovating: A Closer Investigation of Proactive Goal Generation, Innovative Work Behaviour and Boundary Conditions, Journal of Business and Psychology, 10.1007/s10869-014-9371-8, 30, 3, (415-433), (2014).
