The role of emotions in individual and team creativity: An investigation into the emotional experiences and responses of early career fashion designers in UK fashion firms

Abstract

The principal objective of this research is to investigate the role of emotions in enhancing creative performance at the micro, meso and macro levels, while also unpacking the relationship between creativity and negative emotions. Negative emotions usually emanate from feelings of failure or inadequacy in the creative process, and as a result, they can be harmful for the creative confidence and self-efficacy of an individual working within a creative team. Nevertheless, experiences of failure can boost individual creativity if an individual can move away from the ‘vicious cycle’ of negative emotions into deep reflection on the reasons for failure. Pivoting from the mere experience of negative emotion to learning from a negative experience can improve the intrinsic motivation of individuals and their creativity. The contribution of this thesis to existing theory of creativity is a framework which will allow the management of fashion firms to fully comprehend the concept of positive emotions and creativity, as well as emotional numbness and the resulting impact on creative individuals. This could be when they are working individually, or within a team framework, and also considers broader cultural and environmental influences which stem from a macro-level of analysis. The sample will include creative students who are yet to graduate, alumni and creative individuals who are working as entrepreneurs or in a creative industry. The primary empirical contributions of this thesis reveal the underlying causes of the emergence of emotional numbness in UK fashion firms. These include the rejection of creative ideas, social exclusion, precarity and a communication barrier between creative individuals and management, all of which lead to an overall lack of emotional support for creativity within these firms. Secondly, this research further enriches the concept of emotional numbness by critically addressing the lack of mutual ground between early-stage international fashion designers and international students who are preparing to enter fashion firms and creative leaders who are unable to understand, communicate and provide adequate support. This triggers a need to devise coping mechanisms, not only in fashion or other creative organisations but also in the UK fashion education system.