PERSONAL, RELATIONAL, AND PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS OF JOB CRAFTING

Abstract

In face of uncertain and dynamic environments, an alternative form of work design has emerged – job crafting, defined as proactive, bottom-up changes in employees’ work boundaries. Job crafting has been found to have a positive impact on employee attitudes, performance, as well as meaningfulness at work. While previous studies on job crafting have examined various antecedents across multiple levels, investigations on the impact of job crafting have largely focused on the self, neglecting social-relational implications of job crafting activities. In the current dissertation, I propose an integrative model of job crafting that examines personal, relational, and performance outcomes of job crafting, integrating the notion of meaningfulness at work (Rosso et al., 2010), the agency/communion framework on the self-view and social judgment (Bakan, 1966; Fiske, Cuddy, & Glick, 2006), and the self-concern and other-orientation as moderators model (De Dreu, 2006; De Dreu & Nauta, 2009). Empirical results confirmed the coexistence of self- and other-focused psychological mechanisms in the relationship between job crafting and meaningfulness. In addition, I found that self-/other-focused psychological states differentially influence social-relational and performance outcomes.