In this work, we draw on the notion of affective trajectory to theorize the role of affective states in the generation, elaboration, championing, and implementation of creative ideas—known as the idea journey. Whereas prior literature has demonstrated that creators’ affective states exert a significant impact on diverse aspects of creativity and innovation, such as generating new ideas, polishing them, sorting them, improving them, and even pitching them, it has generated a trove of mixed results as to whether positive or negative affective states facilitate the idea journey. To address this issue, we propose that only by conceptualizing the idea journey as a sequence of activities, and affect as a transient state that can range from positive to negative and vice versa, we can make sense of the myriad of mixed findings. Overall, this work contributes to the vast literature on creativity and innovation by theorizing the affective journey of creators.
