The Influence of Work Engagement on Employee Affect and Creativity: Insights from Occupational Mental Health

Affect plays a pivotal role in shaping employees’ work performance and mental health, with growing recognition of its capacity to drive creativity. However, the differential impacts of positive and negative affect on creative performance remain a subject of debate. This study aims to compare the rel...

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Main Authors: Lan Ye, Yanwei Li, Na Zhang, Jian Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Behavioral Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/12/1217
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author Lan Ye
Yanwei Li
Na Zhang
Jian Zhang
author_facet Lan Ye
Yanwei Li
Na Zhang
Jian Zhang
author_sort Lan Ye
collection DOAJ
description Affect plays a pivotal role in shaping employees’ work performance and mental health, with growing recognition of its capacity to drive creativity. However, the differential impacts of positive and negative affect on creative performance remain a subject of debate. This study aims to compare the relationships between high- and low-arousal affect, as well as PANA dimensions of affect, and creative performance, emphasizing the mediating role of work engagement from an occupational mental health perspective. A survey was conducted involving 278 employees and their managers across 25 companies in China. The findings reveal significant associations between high-arousal positive affect, low-arousal positive affect, high-arousal negative affect, and low-arousal negative affect with both work engagement and creative performance. Moreover, the results indicate that work engagement partially mediates the relationship between high-arousal affect and creative performance while fully mediating the relationship between low-arousal affect and creativity. These findings underscore the importance of occupational mental health—particularly work engagement—in fostering employee creativity and highlight its critical role in organizational management strategies.
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spelling doaj-art-6d30416c8e7c4bfa84c2ae30358d53342025-08-20T02:00:56ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2024-12-011412121710.3390/bs14121217The Influence of Work Engagement on Employee Affect and Creativity: Insights from Occupational Mental HealthLan Ye0Yanwei Li1Na Zhang2Jian Zhang3College of Cabin Crew, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin 300300, ChinaSchool of Economics and Management, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin 300300, ChinaSchool of Economics and Management, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing 102206, ChinaSchool of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, ChinaAffect plays a pivotal role in shaping employees’ work performance and mental health, with growing recognition of its capacity to drive creativity. However, the differential impacts of positive and negative affect on creative performance remain a subject of debate. This study aims to compare the relationships between high- and low-arousal affect, as well as PANA dimensions of affect, and creative performance, emphasizing the mediating role of work engagement from an occupational mental health perspective. A survey was conducted involving 278 employees and their managers across 25 companies in China. The findings reveal significant associations between high-arousal positive affect, low-arousal positive affect, high-arousal negative affect, and low-arousal negative affect with both work engagement and creative performance. Moreover, the results indicate that work engagement partially mediates the relationship between high-arousal affect and creative performance while fully mediating the relationship between low-arousal affect and creativity. These findings underscore the importance of occupational mental health—particularly work engagement—in fostering employee creativity and highlight its critical role in organizational management strategies.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/12/1217creativityaffectwork engagementoccupational mental health
spellingShingle Lan Ye
Yanwei Li
Na Zhang
Jian Zhang
The Influence of Work Engagement on Employee Affect and Creativity: Insights from Occupational Mental Health
Behavioral Sciences
creativity
affect
work engagement
occupational mental health
title The Influence of Work Engagement on Employee Affect and Creativity: Insights from Occupational Mental Health
title_full The Influence of Work Engagement on Employee Affect and Creativity: Insights from Occupational Mental Health
title_fullStr The Influence of Work Engagement on Employee Affect and Creativity: Insights from Occupational Mental Health
title_full_unstemmed The Influence of Work Engagement on Employee Affect and Creativity: Insights from Occupational Mental Health
title_short The Influence of Work Engagement on Employee Affect and Creativity: Insights from Occupational Mental Health
title_sort influence of work engagement on employee affect and creativity insights from occupational mental health
topic creativity
affect
work engagement
occupational mental health
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/12/1217
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