Keywords
Artistic Education
Creativity
Leisure
Productivity
How to Cite
Abstract
Introduction: Creativity has been examined from diverse viewpoints, including the state of creative flow. In the performance-driven culture, individuals often self-exploit to meet expectations of hyper-production, leading to concentration issues and creative blocks. Description of the experience: This study explores how university students across six creative disciplines experience the "burnout society" within their creative processes. Data were collected through a questionnaire and analyzed across three categories: "performance culture" (perceptions of performance and productivity expectations), "experience of the creative process" (identification of creative blocks, particularly at project onset), and "disconnection and contemplation" (recognition of the need for relaxation, despite infrequent practice). Discussion: The findings indicate that participants are trapped in a cycle of creative block – hyper-production – exhaustion. Academia plays a crucial role in teaching creative processes that foster a greater experience of the flow state to break this cycle. Conclusions: Elements of the burnout society, such as hyper-connectivity and self-imposed pressure, were identified in the students' creative processes. Academia bears the responsibility of reflecting on the teaching of the creative process and focusing on a balanced cycle of creativity.
References
Amabile, T. M. (1998). Cómo matar la creatividad. Harvard Business Review, 76(5), 76-87. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/35221228/Como_matar_la_creatividad_teresa_amabile-libre.pdf
Amabile, T. M., Hadley, C. N., & Kramer, S. J. (2002). Creativity under the gun. Harvard Business Review, 80(8), 52-61. https://hbr.org/2002/08/creativity-under-the-gun
Ali, M. M., & Saher, S. (2025). Distraction or dependence? Exploring the effects of smartphone overuse on student creativity and learning. Trends in Social Sciences, 1(1), 35–40 . https://doi.org/10.21124/tss.2025.35.40
Bullock Muir, A., Tribe, B., y Forster, S. (2024). Creativity on Tap? The Effect of Creativity Anxiety Under Evaluative Pressure. Creativity Research Journal, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2024.2330800
Castelo, N., Kushlev, K., Ward, A. F., Esterman, M., y Reiner, P. B. (2025). Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being. PNAS Nexus, 4(2), pgaf017. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf017
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1998). Creatividad: el fluir y la psicología del descubrimiento y la invención. España: Ediciones Paidós.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2001). Ocio y creatividad en el desarrollo humano. En Csikszentmihalyi, M., Cuenca, M. et al., Ocio y desarrollo. Potencialidades del ocio para el desarrollo humano (pp. 17-32). Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2010). Fluir (Flow): Una psicología de la felicidad. Barcelona: Editorial Kairós.
Curtin, M., y Sanson, K. (2016). Creatividad precaria. University of California Press.
Daker, R. J., Cortes, R. A., Lyons, I. M., y Green, A. E. (2020). Creativity anxiety: Evidence for anxiety that is specific to creative thinking, from STEM to the arts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149(1), 42–57. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000630
Duque, I., & Jódar, F. (2024). Acompañando a las nuevas generaciones en la era de las pantallas: Bienvenidos a Tecnotopia/Welcome to Tecnotopia. Nube de Tinta.
Ferrer, E. (2006). El proceso creativo. Retrieved Junio: http://segmento. itam. mx/Administrador/Uploader/material/El% 20Proceso% 20Creativo. PDF.
García García, L. A., & Castro Sánchez, J. J. (2021). La creatividad y su comprensión. https://accedacris.ulpgc.es/bitstream/10553/112044/1/Creatividad_comprension.pdf
Calvo Hernández, P., Hernández Suárez, V. M., & Suárez Robaina, J. R. (2021). La investigación acompañando a la vida. Estudios en Homenaje a Emigdia Repetto Jiménez. Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). https://doi.org/10.20420/1656.2021.430
González, M. D. R. G., & López, L. V. (2021). La revaloración del ocio, más que del tiempo libre. Revista Estudios, (42), 352-380. https://doi.org/10.15517/re.v0i42.47224
Han, B.-C., y Arregi, A. S. (2012). La sociedad del cansancio (2a edición). Herder. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvt9k12c
Han, B. (2023). Vida contemplativa. Elogio de la inactividad. Madrid: Editorial Taurus.
Koo, H. J. (2023). American idle: An examination of leisure guilt, time use, and well-being (Tesis doctoral). University of California, Irvine. UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6854g2zx
Jiang, Y., Zhao, X., & Wang, L. (2024). The impact of multidimensional excessive social media use on academic performance: The moderating role of mindfulness. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1345678. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12231663/
Maisel, E. (2014). Mastering creative anxiety: 24 lessons for writers, painters, musicians, and actors from America’s foremost creativity coach. New World Library.
McRobbie, A. (2016). Be creative: Making a living in the new culture industries. Polity Press.
Menger, P.-M. (2014). The economics of creativity: Art and achievement under uncertainty. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674726451
Olson, B. (2025, 15 de enero). Does Pinterest foster a culture of comparison? The Owl. https://bhsowl.org/8099/opinion/does-pinterest-foster-a-culture-of-comparison/
Robinson, K. (2009). El Elemento: Descubrir tu pasión lo cambia todo. Conecta.
Romero, A. C., Paz, E., Medina, N. (2024). Academic stress in students of the Faculty of Engineering at a Honduran university. In Proceedings of the 22nd LACCEI International Multi-Conference for Engineering, Education and Technology (LACCEI 2024): “Sustainable Engineering for a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Future at the Service of Education, Research, and Industry for a Society 5.0.” http://dx.doi.org/10.18687/laccei2024.1.1.1095
Roles, K. (2022). Creative burnout: Suffocating the future of design. A detailed analysis of the effects of creative burnout among design students and professionals [Education paper]. Industrial Designers Society of America.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
Smith, K., Pickering, A., y Bhattacharya, J. (2022). The Creative Life: A Daily Diary Study of Creativity, Affect, and Well-Being in Creative Individuals. Creativity Research Journal, 34(4), 460–479. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2022.2122371
Stanback, S. (2025). Pinterest Predicts: A look at the creative trends for the coming year. Pinterest Newsroom. https://newsroom.pinterest.com/en/post/pinterest-predicts-2025-trends
Välimäki, V. (2024). Impact of reducing digital distractions on creativity: A systematic review of the effects on the creative industry (Tesis de maestría). Arcada University of Applied Sciences. Theseus – Repositorio abierto de tesis de universidades de ciencias aplicadas. https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/877147/Valimaki_Ville.pdf
Vanden Abeele, M. M. P., Vandebosch, H., Koster, E. H. W., De Leyn, T., Van Gaeveren, K., de Segovia Vicente, D., Van Bruyssel, S., van Timmeren, T., De Marez, L., Poels, K., DeSmet, A., De Wever, B., Verbruggen, M., & Baillien, E. (2024). Why, how, when, and for whom does digital disconnection work? A process-based framework of digital disconnection. Communication Theory, 34(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtad016