Telework and creativity follow a U-shaped anxiety path, study finds

Remote work may help or hurt employee creativity depending on how much of the job moves out of the office, according to a study published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. The research, led by Weiwei Huo and colleagues, reports that the link between telework extent and creativity is not a straight line. Instead, it runs through workplace anxiety, the feelings of nervousness, uneasiness and tension employees experience about their work, and the direction of the effect reverses across different levels of remote work.

The team grounded its model in conservation of resources theory. The study therefore tested whether the amount of telework, rather than telework itself, determines which of these forces dominates.

The analyses revealed a U-shaped relationship between telework extent and workplace anxiety. The study examined the mediating role of workplace anxiety, defined as employees' feelings of nervousness, uneasiness, and tension regarding work.

The study also examined the moderating role of temporal leadership, defined as leaders' behaviors that help subordinates improve their time management and coordination. The study found that workplace anxiety mediated an inverted U-shaped relationship between telework extent and creativity. The analyses revealed a U-shaped relationship between telework extent and workplace anxiety, and this relationship became nonsignificant under low temporal leadership. Moreover, workplace anxiety mediated the inverted U-shaped relationship between telework extent and creativity.

The strength of these patterns depended on leadership behavior. The study examined temporal leadership, defined as leaders’ behaviors that help subordinates improve their time management and coordination. Under high temporal leadership, the U-shaped link between telework extent and anxiety held. The findings underscore the important role of workplace anxiety.

The article was published as an open-access piece on 30 October 2026 and is being shared early to provide faster access to peer-reviewed, accepted research. The publisher notes that this version is citable and carries a permanent DOI, but remains subject to further edits and will be replaced automatically by the final Version of Record.

Subject of Research: How the extent of telework relates to employee creativity through workplace anxiety and temporal leadership.

Article Title: Too much or too little? Unpacking the curvilinear relationship between telework extent and creativity

Article References: Huo, W., Wang, Y., Liang, B., Xing, L. L., Shi, Y., & Zhang, X. (2026). Too much or too little? Unpacking the curvilinear relationship between telework extent and creativity. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-09489-7

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-026-09489-7

Keywords: telework, employee creativity, workplace anxiety, temporal leadership, conservation of resources theory, remote work, organizational behavior, hybrid work, curvilinear relationship, leadership, much, little