Psychological Capital Moderates the Indirect Effect of Job Crafting on Work Engagement Through Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction

Abstract

Based on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model and Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study tested whether satisfaction of basic psychological need is a mediator in this relationship between job crafting and work engagement, and whether psychological capital (PsyCap) moderates this mediating relationship. Cross sectional survey data was gathered from 412 full-time employees from five different industry sectors. Job crafting, basic psychological need satisfaction, psychological capital, and work engagement were measured using the following scales: 21-item Job Crafting Scale, 18-item Work-related Basic Need Satisfaction scale, 24-item Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and nine-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Ordinary least squares regression (OLS) using PROCESS model 7 with 5,000 bias-corrected bootstrap resamples was used to estimate a first stage moderated-mediation model in SPSS. The relationship between job crafting and work engagement was positive (c = 0.739, p < .001) and need satisfaction as a mediator was significant (indirect effect = 0.405, 95% CI [0.316, 0.508]). The result of the job crafting × psychological capital interaction significant predicted need satisfaction (a₃ = 0.227, p < .001) and the index of moderated mediation was significant (index = 0.221, 95% CI [0.127, 0.315]). Conditional indirect effects (CIs all do not contain zero) increased sequentially from low (0.176), mean (0.332), to high (0.487) levels of psychological capital. Psychological capital therefore acts as a personal resource which bolsters the motivational returns of job crafting and need satisfaction is a proximal mechanism between proactive job redesign and engagement.