[Research Contribution] Work-Life Harmony, Stress, and Creativity: The Role of Marital Status
30 December, 2025
Keywords: Marital Status, Creativity, Work Stress, Work-Family Interference, Sustainable Human Resource Management
In the context of globalization and digital transformation, innovation has increasingly become a core competitive advantage for organizations. To sustain this capability, businesses not only demand work efficiency but also expect employees to propose new ideas and participate in process improvements. This pressure to innovate has consequently increased, leading to work-related stress among many employees, significantly affecting their mental health, creativity, and productivity. Motivated by this reality, a research team from UEH Mekong, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH), conducted a study to clarify the relationship between work stress and employee creativity, while also examining the moderating roles of work-life harmony and marital status.
A Research Gap Arising from Personal Life
To understand why work stress can inhibit an employee’s innovative capacity, it is necessary to consider the factors that contribute to this state, with the relationship between work and personal life playing a particularly crucial role. When work and family conflict, employees are prone to prolonged stress, depleted energy, and difficulty maintaining their creative abilities. Conversely, a balance between these two domains helps reduce psychological pressure, thereby sustaining motivation and the ability to generate new ideas. Research also indicates that marital status is a key factor influencing stress levels when the boundaries between work and personal life blur. Although seldom addressed in previous studies, this aspect is especially significant in a culture like Vietnam’s, where the family plays a central role. Based on this, the study poses the question: How does work-life harmony impact employee stress and creative behavior, considering the moderating role of marital status?
Theoretically, the research is built on three main foundations. First, Self-Determination Theory suggests that individuals work more effectively and creatively when they feel autonomous, competent, and connected to others. When work and family conflict, these positive feelings diminish, affecting motivation and creativity. Second, the Job Demands-Resources Theory emphasizes that work pressure only leads to stress when employees lack supportive resources. In this context, the family can serve as an important support system, helping employees recover energy and maintain their engagement with work. Complementing these two approaches, the Role Strain Theory posits that simultaneously holding multiple roles—such as employee, spouse, and parent—can create psychological pressure if these roles overlap or conflict. Consequently, marital status is considered a factor that can alter the level of stress an employee faces.
Based on this foundation, the research team developed a model reflecting four aspects of work-life harmony:
- First, work-to-family interference occurs when job demands consume excessive time and energy, affecting family responsibilities.
- Second, family-to-work interference occurs when family issues make it difficult for an employee to concentrate and work effectively.
- Third, work-family strain is a state of prolonged pressure when these two domains are in constant conflict.
- Conversely, work-family enrichment occurs when work and family support each other, helping the employee feel more positive, energetic, and creative at work.
Noteworthy Findings
The analysis reveals that when work and family conflict, employees’ work stress levels increase significantly. Among the factors, prolonged strain from both work and family has the strongest impact, demonstrating that when pressure is sustained and not promptly relieved, employees are prone to fatigue, burnout, and a decline in work morale. Conversely, when work and family can support and enrich each other, stress levels are reduced; however, this positive effect is not strong enough to fully offset the negative impacts caused by various forms of conflict.
Furthermore, the study confirms that work stress has a clear negative impact on employee creativity. Under high pressure, employees often find it difficult to concentrate, have reduced motivation to seek new ideas, and tend to choose safe solutions rather than experimenting with newer, more creative approaches. This is a crucial finding, indicating that creativity depends not only on individual talent or organizational incentives but is also heavily influenced by the employee’s daily psychological state.
Notably, marital status also plays a significant role in the relationship between work-family conflict and occupational stress. The study shows that married employees are more strongly affected than their single counterparts. This is because they must simultaneously shoulder multiple responsibilities, from their jobs to caring for their families and children. As work pressure increases while family obligations can hardly be reduced, the stress levels of this group tend to rise faster and last longer.
Policy Implications: From Pressure to Creative Resources
From these research findings, the authors propose several important practical implications for businesses in human resource management:
First, to reduce stress arising from work-family conflict, businesses should proactively develop policies that help employees achieve work-life balance. Feasible solutions include: implementing flexible work arrangements in terms of time and location, or establishing clear boundaries for after-hours work, which can help employees reduce pressure and recover energy more effectively.
Second, the research indicates that married employees are more negatively impacted by work stress. Therefore, businesses need to provide appropriate support programs for this group. Specifically, training for managers on empathy and employee support skills, along with expanding practical benefits such as childcare subsidies or additional family care leave, can significantly reduce psychological pressure.
Third, to mitigate the negative impact of stress on creativity and leverage the positive effects of work-family enrichment, businesses should focus on employees’ mental health. Stress management programs, combined with a supportive organizational culture that values recognition, sharing, and companionship, can help employees feel cared for and supported.
By implementing these solutions synchronously, businesses can not only address the root causes of stress but also foster a humane work environment that encourages and unleashes the creative potential of their employees.
The Necessity and Direction for Organizations in the Innovation Era
The research shows that managing stress is, in effect, managing the organization’s innovative capacity. To achieve sustainable innovation, businesses cannot rely solely on technology or financial resources; they must also create a flexible work environment that respects personal lives and understands the family context of their employees. Solutions such as limiting after-hours work, expanding family-friendly benefits, and encouraging empathetic leadership play a crucial role in reducing stress and nurturing creativity.
From a broader perspective, the study helps clarify the link between human resource management and sustainable development. In the Vietnamese context, where the family holds a central role in the social culture, HR policies that neglect this factor are unlikely to be effective in the long run. Conversely, when businesses prioritize work-family harmony, they not only retain talent but also create positive value for the community. This is the foundation for an organization to achieve economic growth in tandem with a healthy, creative, and sustainable society.
Read the full research paper: Work-Life Harmony, Work Stress, and Creativity: The Moderating Role of Marital Status HERE
Authors: MA. Tran Bao Ngoc, MA. Vo Thanh Truc, MA. Nguyen To Huy, Bui Nguyen Dan Nguyen, Nguyen Minh Chau – University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH)
This article is part of the series spreading research and applied knowledge with the message “For a More Sustainable Mekong,” under the “Research Contribution For All” program implemented by UEH. UEH cordially invites readers to look forward to the next UEH Research Insights newsletter.
News, photos: Authors, UEH Mekong Department of Admissions and Communications, UEH Department of Communications and Partnerships
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