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  • 24 - Anxiety, Fear of Failure, and Creativity

  • from Part V - Emotions and Creativity at School and Work
  • Edited by Zorana Ivcevic, Yale University, Connecticut, Jessica D. Hoffmann, Yale University, Connecticut, James C. Kaufman, University of Connecticut
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity and Emotions
    Published online:
    16 February 2023
    Print publication:
    23 February 2023, pp 461-478

  • Summary

    At the heart of creativity is the unknown and the new, the breaking from conventions and conformity, and the challenging of existing norms and ideas. Those essential parts of creativity come with the threat of failure, rejection, embarrassment, exclusion, and non-conformity. However, the experience and intensity of this threat and the resulting anxiety and fear is likely different for each of us. So, where does fear of failure, and the anxiety it may produce, fit into the creative process? Are fear and anxiety barriers we should try to remove to become more creative? Are they catalysts for creative risk-taking and the enhanced alertness that help us recognize an opportunity for innovation, invention, and growth? This chapter explores features of creativity and the creative process that relate to the affective states of anxiety and fear of failure with the goal to illustrate the research on how these states can be managed, and even leveraged, to enhance creativity.