Why does job anxiety negatively impact employee creativity? an ego depletion theory perspective

Abstract

Job anxiety has long been seen as a major factor affecting employees' job performance. The reasons and processes by which affective commitment and work engagement impact employee creativity can be studied through the lens of ego depletion theory. In this study, we surveyed employees in a theme park and applied structural equation modeling to analyze the survey data. Our observations suggested that the decline in employee creativity due to job anxiety was possibly the result of low affective commitment and work engagement, with work engagement being a key mediating factor. The development of emotional ego depletion in service industry employees after experiencing job anxiety could explain our observations. Emotional depletion not only affects employees' work attitudes and emotional expressions but also reduces their motivation for creativity.