TY  - GEN
TI  - Job crafting deconstructed: Advancing differentiation between theoretical perspectives, individual forms, and intervention mechanisms
A1  - Ebert, Thea
CY  - Heidelberg
N2  - Job crafting refers to self-initiated changes employees make to better adapt their jobs to themselves and represents a bottom-up form of work (re-)design. Despite the central notion of the construct being individual changes, the literature to date has mirrored the corresponding varieties only to a limited extent. Although different theoretical models identify varying forms of job crafting, their individual mechanisms and possible discrepancies have largely remained unclear. Instead, the literature predominantly focuses on behavioral, approach-oriented forms of crafting ? such as actively seeking out new, challenging tasks ? and their mostly beneficial effects on individuals? well-being, work engagement, or performance. However, simply extending these findings to job crafting in general fails to adequately account for the complexity of the construct and carries the risk of overlooking the specific potential of other forms (e.g., cognitive or avoidance-oriented crafting), as well as possible unintended or negative effects. Therefore, the overall aim of this dissertation is to advance differentiation within the construct of job crafting. Specifically, I address this aim through three focuses, progressively deepening in the course of the dissertation: Differentiating 1) general theoretical perspectives, 2) different job crafting forms, and 3) their individual effectiveness and mechanisms within interventions.
Targeting the first focus, we systematically compared the two original theoretical perspectives on job crafting (Tims & Bakker, 2010; Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001), which have long coexisted in the literature and examined possible integrative approaches. We conducted two studies among German and English-speaking employees (N1 = 295, N2 = 557), considering a range of job crafting measurement instruments. Across both studies, the results indicated a significant discrepancy between the perspectives in terms of factorial structures and theoretically assumed relationships between their individual forms. From these findings, we derived the recommendation not to use different job crafting perspectives interchangeably in the sense of a uniform construct. Instead, we provided evidence for the benefits of applying higher-level integrative factors (e.g., approach and avoidance crafting) or more specific individual forms.
A further longitudinal study (N = 284) with three measurement points focused on a joint examination of behavioral (approach and avoidance) and cognitive (approach and avoidance) crafting to provide a systematic differentiation of different job crafting forms. Resulting evidence from structural equation modeling and latent profile analyses revealed surprisingly high stabilities of all job crafting forms and no reciprocal relations over time between them, indicating relatively separate processes. Missing causal links to the traditionally assumed antecedent autonomy and outcome person-job fit further underscored the need for a more detailed understanding of the unique mechanisms of different job crafting forms.
Finally, two separate but interconnected intervention studies shed light on the effectiveness and mechanisms of specific job crafting forms within interventions. In a novel modular intervention approach, we first examined whether four job crafting forms (behavioral approach, behavioral avoidance, cognitive approach, cognitive avoidance) could be trained individually, thereby improving specificity within interventions and providing a basis for assessing their distinct effectiveness. This short, asynchronous online training (N = 173) proved to be particularly successful in stimulating cognitive approach crafting. To further illustrate its unique mechanism, we focused a second intervention study (N = 105) on the cognitive crafting of autonomy. This study is the first to demonstrate a two-part underlying process of cognitive approach crafting that increased the perceived level of autonomy and its appraisal as a resource.
In sum, this dissertation challenges existing assumptions in the field and contributes to a more nuanced understanding of job crafting with a comprehensive set of five studies, including cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental data of German and English-Speaking employees. The findings enhance job crafting research by 1) identifying critical implications regarding construct validity, 2) systematically contrasting and training different forms of job crafting and examining their mechanism of change, and 3) emphasizing and illustrating previously unexplored cognitive processes. Thereby, this dissertation offers a refined perspective for the future development of job crafting theory and more specific and evidence-based practical applications.
Y1  - 2024///
UR  - https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/35151/
AV  - public
ID  - heidok35151
ER  -