A Multilevel study on the Contagion of Job Crafting between Coworkers and the Relationship between Job Crafting and Adaptivity.
Summary
This study of 55 dyads of coworkers working within the same unit examined the contagion of job crafting which, framed within the Job-Demands Resources Model, consists of three distinct behaviors: seeking challenges, seeking resources and reducing demands. We hypothesized that seeking resources, seeking challenges and reducing demands are transferred from one employee (partner) to the other (actor) on a daily basis. Moreover, job crafting was expected to positively relate to the coworkers’ daily adaptation to changes. Daily adaptation to changes was measured both by self-report and peer-report. Participants completed a general questionnaire and a daily survey over three workdays. The hypotheses regarding the contagion of job crafting were tested with multilevel analyses, using an actor-partner interdependence model. Results partly confirmed the contagion of job crafting for the dimension of seeking challenges. Moreover, day-level seeking resources and day-level seeking challenges were positively related to day-level team member adaptivity self-rated and day-level seeking resources was positively related to day-level team member adaptivity other-rated. These results imply that stimulating job crafting within organizations is valuable, because it spreads around and aids in the coworkers’ adaptivity to changes within their unit.