Role of Big Five personality traits in regulatory-focused job crafting

Purpose: This study examines the role of Big Five personality traits namely openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism in regulatory-focused job crafting, i.e. promotion- and prevention-focused job crafting and their inter-relationships. Design/methodology/approach: Survey data collected from 444 executives of Indian public sector energy companies were analysed using structural equation modelling. Findings: Big Five personality traits differentially influence individuals' ways of managing job demands through promotion- and prevention-focused job crafting. These influences are easily identifiable in case of openness to experience, conscientiousness and neuroticism. Practical implications: Findings of the study may help organizations in developing an effective recruitment, job designing and job allocation process, devise a framework for uncertainty management, encourage their employees to undertake personality-aligned job crafting to manage their ever-emerging jobs and enhance person–job fit. Originality/value: This study, for the first time, provided a comparative influence of Big Five personality traits on both forms of regulatory-focused job crafting. These findings may be relevant for job demand management in a dynamic business environment.