<p>Although a growing body of evidence suggests that performance pressure has a dual impact on employees and organizations, very few studies have examined how performance pressure influences employee innovative behavior. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, we theorize that performance pressure may elicit both positive and negative effects on innovative behavior through promotion focus and prevention focus, with family motivation moderating employees’ reactions to performance pressure. Utilizing data gathered from supervisor-employee dyads across three time points, we tested our hypotheses within a Chinese sample (<i>N</i> = 386). The findings revealed that: (1) performance pressure induces both promotion and prevention focus; (2) promotion focus mediates the positive indirect relationship between performance pressure and innovative behavior, whereas prevention focus mediates the negative indirect relationship between performance pressure and innovative behavior; (3) family motivation enhances the positive direct effect of performance pressure on promotion focus, as well as the positive indirect effect of performance pressure on innovative behavior via promotion focus. These findings advance our understanding of the “double-edged sword” nature of performance pressure and yield significant implications for organizational stress management practices.</p>