From ‘Home Blues’ to Office Creativity: How Work Location Affects Employee Creative Performance

Abstract

What are the long-term effects of remote work on employees’ psychology, creativity and workplace happiness? Does the psychological aspect of remote employees influence their creativity differently than in-office employees? This study addresses these questions using the componential theory of creativity to explore the roles of psychological capital and happiness at work in shaping creative performance behaviour among information technology employees. Data were collected using validated scales from 283 remote and 305 in-office information technology employees in creative roles and analysed through structural equation modelling. The findings reveal that in-office employees exhibit significantly higher levels of happiness at work and creative performance behaviour than their remote counterparts. Moreover, for in-office employees, happiness at work partially mediates the relationship between psychological capital and creative performance behaviour, a dynamic that is notably absent among remote workers. Theoretically, the study advances the componential theory of creativity by identifying work location as a boundary condition, showing that creativity in in-office settings is jointly driven by psychological capital and workplace-embedded happiness, whereas remote creativity relies predominantly on individual psychological capital. Practically, the findings underscore the need for differentiated HR and leadership interventions across work arrangements rather than uniform well-being policies. Societally, the results highlight the importance of regulatory attention to work intensification and employee well-being risks associated with sustained remote work. However, the study’s conclusions should be interpreted with caution, as the data are industry-specific to information technology, which may limit generalizability across other sectors.