Unpacking the predictive effects of social characteristics on job crafting

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive effects of social context and its interaction effects with individual differences on job crafting behaviors. Specially, this paper draws on the purposeful work behavior theory to outline how the four social characteristics (social support, interdependence, interaction outside the organization and feedback from others) and the moderation effects of neuroticism predict task crafting, relational crafting and cognitive crafting. Design/methodology/approach: The current study examined four social characteristics as antecedents of job crafting behaviors. The moderating effects of neuroticism were explored as well. By conducting a three-wave survey, the authors received a sample of 253 full-time incumbents in Japan. The data analysis used multiple regressions by using R language. Correlational and moderated regression analyses were performed to test this study’s hypotheses. Findings: Empirical analysis of this study’s data shows some initial support for the application of the purposeful work behaviors theory to job crafting. The findings indicate that all four social characteristics promoted particular job crafting behaviors. Neuroticism was a significant moderator for the relationships between social support, interaction outside the organization, feedback from others and relative job crafting dimensions. The current study extends existing models of job crafting. Originality/value: The current study makes significant theoretical contributions for both work design and job crafting literature. The present framework enriches our understanding of job crafting by demonstrating a picture of a moderated model between social characteristics and job crafting by uncovering the moderator – neuroticism. This study’s findings also contribute to managerial practices. Managers should build a supportive context and provide interdependence, interactions outside the organization and interpersonal performance feedback. To motivate employees with different personalities, offering different social context is necessary.