Motives for Crafting Work and Leisure: Focus on Opportunities at Work and Psychological Needs as Drivers of Crafting Efforts

Merly Kosenkranius, Floor Rink, Miika Kujanpää and Jessica de Bloom
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Merly Kosenkranius: Department of HRM & OB, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, Nettelbosje 2, 9747 AE Groningen, The Netherlands
Floor Rink: Department of HRM & OB, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, Nettelbosje 2, 9747 AE Groningen, The Netherlands
Miika Kujanpää: Faculty of Social Sciences (Psychology), Tampere University, Kalevantie 5, 33100 Tampere, Finland
Jessica de Bloom: Department of HRM & OB, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, Nettelbosje 2, 9747 AE Groningen, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-20

Abstract: Employees of all ages can proactively shape their behavior to manage modern work–life challenges more effectively and this is known as crafting. Our goal is to better understand employees’ motives for engaging in crafting efforts in different life domains to fulfil their psychological needs. In a survey study with two measurement waves, we examined whether “focus on opportunities at work” (FoO)—the extent to which employees believe in new goals and opportunities in their occupational future—and psychological needs (i.e., approach and avoidance needs)—predicted crafting efforts at work and outside work (i.e., job and off-job crafting). Our hypotheses were largely confirmed in a study on 346 Finnish workers. Greater FoO led to greater approach needs (i.e., mastery, meaning, affiliation), which in turn explained higher engagement in both job and off-job crafting. Avoidance needs (i.e., detachment, relaxation) resulted in increased crafting efforts in both life domains directly. Our findings underline the importance of FoO for crafting efforts across life domains, and explain why this is the case (i.e., it activates approach-oriented psychological needs). By supporting workers in shifting their focus onto their future opportunities (regardless of their age), organizations can create environments conducive to crafting and ultimately sustainable work lives.

Keywords: focus on opportunities at work; psychological needs; job crafting; off-job crafting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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