Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Why work meaningfulness alone is not enough: The role of social identification and task interdependence as facilitative boundary conditions

  • Published:
Current Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Until recently, research disclosing the specific antecedents that induce proactive job crafting activities has been relatively lacking. Particularly, despite theoretical studies that imply the importance of work meaningfulness as a critical motivational factor for positive workplace behaviors, previous research has not observed this firsthand. Therefore, for the first time, the present study empirically assesses work meaningfulness as a key element in prompting job crafting, an individually induced job redesign strategy. The purpose of the present study is to explain the respective original job crafting concepts (i.e., task, cognitive, and relational crafting) by employing a job demands-resources (JD-R) approach, which integrates the original job crafting dimensions and JD-R-based classification of job crafting. Additionally, the present study examines boundary conditions centered on social and job resources that may further stimulate job crafting. It was posited, based upon three three-way interaction models, that social identification (i.e., social resource) and task interdependence (i.e., job resource) are moderators that strengthen the relationship between work meaningfulness and each of the respective job crafting activities. Analyzing survey data from 195 individuals in 25 organizations from private and public sectors, the results indicated that task and relational crafting were both highest when work meaningfulness, task interdependence, and social identification were all high, thus partly supporting the proposed research hypotheses.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aktouf, O. (1992). Management and theories of organizations in the 1990s: Toward a critical radical humanism? Academy of Management Review, 17(3), 407–431.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, K. A., Turner, N., Barling, J., Kelloway, E. K., & McKee, M. C. (2007). Transformational leadership and psychological well-being: The mediating role of meaningful work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(3), 193–203.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ashforth, B. E., & Kreiner, G. E. (1999). “How can you do it?”: Dirty work and the challenge of constructing a positive identity. Academy of Management Review, 24(3), 413–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The job demands-resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309–328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2014). Job demands-resources theory. In P. Y. Chen & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), Wellbeing: A complete reference guide (Vol. III, pp. 1–28). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Schaufeli, W. (2003). Dual processes at work in a call Centre: An application of the job demands–resources model. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 12(4), 393–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, A. B., Hakanen, J. J., Demerouti, E., & Xanthopoulou, D. (2007). Job resources boost work engagement, particularly when job demands are high. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(2), 274–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg, J. M., Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2010). Perceiving and responding to challenges in job crafting at different ranks: When proactivity requires adaptivity. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(2–3), 158–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bipp, T. (2010). What do people want from their jobs? The big five, core self-evaluations and work motivation. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 18(1), 28–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2389.2010.00486.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bipp, T., & Demerouti, E. (2015). Which employees craft their jobs and how? Basic dimensions of personality and employees’ job crafting behaviour. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88(4), 631–655.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolino, M. C., Hsiung, H.-H., Harvey, J., & LePine, J. A. (2015). “Well, I’m tired of tryin’!” organizational citizenship behavior and citizenship fatigue. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(1), 56–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brass, D. J. (1981). Structural relationships, job characteristics, and worker satisfaction and performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 26(3), 331–348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brickson, S. L. (2013). Athletes, best friends, and social activists: An integrative model accounting for the role of identity in organizational identification. Organization Science, 24(1), 226–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1992). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campion, M. A., Medsker, G. J., & Higgs, A. C. (1993). Relations between work group characteristics and effectiveness: Implications for designing effective work groups. Personnel Psychology, 46, 823–850.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, E. R., LePine, J. A., & Rich, B. L. (2010). Linking job demands and resources to employee engagement and burnout: A theoretical extension and meta-analytic test. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(5), 834–848.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, J. F., & Richter, A. W. (2006). Probing three-way interactions in moderated multiple regression: Development and application of a slope difference test. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 917–926.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demirtas, O., Hannah, S. T., Gok, K., Arslan, A., & Capar, N. (2017). The moderated influence of ethical leadership, via meaningful work, on followers’ engagement, organizational identification, and envy. Journal of Business Ethics, 145, 183–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frese, M., Garman, G., & Fay, D. (2007). Making things happen: Reciprocal relationships between work characteristics and personal initiative in a four-wave longitudinal structural equation model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 1084–1102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gong, Y., Kim, T. Y., Lee, D. R., & Zhu, J. (2013). A multilevel model of team goal orientation, information exchange, and creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 56(3), 827–851.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M. (2007). Relational job design and the motivation to make a prosocial difference. Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 393–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M. (2008). The significance of task significance: Job performance effects, relational mechanisms, and boundary conditions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(1), 108–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M., & Ashford, S. J. (2008). The dynamics of proactivity at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 28, 3–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M., & Parker, S. K. (2009). Redesigning work design theories: The rise of relational and proactive perspectives. Academy of Management Annals, 3(1), 317–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, M. A., Neal, A., & Parker, S. K. (2007). A new model of work role performance: Positive behavior in uncertain and interdependent contexts. Academy of Management Journal, 50(2), 327–347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gundlach, M., Zivnuska, S., & Stoner, J. (2006). Understanding the relationship between individualism-collectivism and team performance through an integration of social identity theory and the social relations model. Human Relations, 59(12), 1603–1632.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of job diagnostic survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 159–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helson, R., Stewart, A. J., & Ostrove, J. (1995). Identity in three cohorts of midlife women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 544–557.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hobfoll, S. E., Johnson, R. J., Ennis, N., & Jackson, A. P. (2003). Resource loss, resource gain, and emotional outcomes among inner city women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(3), 632–643.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2001). Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 80–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., Van Vianen, A. E. M., & De Pater, I. (2004). Emotional stability, core self-evaluations, and job outcomes: A review of the evidence and an agenda for future research. Human Performance, 17, 325–346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692–724.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., Judge, T. A., & Scott, B. A. (2009). The role of core self-evaluations in the coping process. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 177–195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kooji, D. T. A. M., van Woerkom, M., Wilkenloh, J., Dorenbosch, L., & Denissen, J. J. A. (2017). Job crafting towards strengths and interests: The effects of a job crafting intervention on person-job fit and the role of age. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102, 971–981.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam, P. K., & Chin, K. S. (2004). Projects factors influencing conflict intensity and handling styles in collaborative NPD. Creativity and Innovation Management, 13, 52–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam, C. F., Wan, W. H., & Roussin, C. J. (2016). Going the extra mile and feeling energized: An enrichment perspective of organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(3), 379–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • LePine, J. A., LePine, M. A., & Jackson, C. L. (2004). Challenge and hindrance stress: Relationships with exhaustion, motivation to learn, and learning performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 883–891.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, J. S., & Tetlock, P. E. (1999). Accounting for the effects of accountability. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 255–275.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li, A. N., & Tan, H. H. (2013). What happens when you trust your supervisor? Mediators of individual performance in trust relationships. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34, 407–425.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liao, H., Joshi, A., & Chuang, A. (2004). Sticking out like a sore thumb: Employee dissimilarity and deviance at work. Personnel Psychology, 57(4), 969–1000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim, M., Ha, Y. J., Oh, D. J., & Sohn, Y. W. (2014). Validation of the Korean version of job crafting questionnaire (JCQ-K). Korean Corporation Management Review, 21(4), 181–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., & Harter, L. M. (2004). The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77(1), 11–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nahrgang, J. D., Morgeson, F. P., & Hofmann, D. A. (2011). Safety at work: A meta-analytic investigation of the link between job demands, job resources, burnout, engagement, and safety outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(1), 71–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niessen, C., Weseler, D., & Kostova, P. (2016). When and why do individuals craft their jobs? The role of individual motivation and work characteristics for job crafting. Human Relations, 69(6), 1287–1313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oldham, G. R., & Hackman, J. R. (2010). Not what it was and not what it will be: The future of job design research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(2–3), 463–479.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owens, B. P., Baker, W. E., Sumpter, D. M., & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Relational energy at work: Implications for job engagement and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(1), 35–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peng, A. C., Lin, H. E., Schaubroeck, J., McDonough III, E. F., Hu, B., & Zhang, A. (2016). CEO intellectual stimulation and employee work meaningfulness: The moderating role of organizational context. Group & Organization Management, 41(2), 203–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petrou, P., Demerouti, E., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2015). Job crafting in changing organizations: Antecedents and implications for exhaustion and performance. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 20(4), 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, M. G., & Ashforth, B. E. (2003). Fostering meaningfulness in working and at work. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (pp. 309–327). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodell, J. B. (2013). Finding meaning through volunteering: Why do employees volunteer and what does it mean for their jobs? Academy of Management Journal, 56(5), 1274–1294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosso, B. D., Dekas, K. H., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2010). On the meaning of work: A theoretical integration and review. Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 91–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Van Rhenen, W. (2009). How changes in job demands and resources predict burnout, work engagement, and sickness absenteeism. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30(7), 893–917.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selenta, C., & Lord, R. G. (2005). Development of the levels of self-concept scale: Measuring the individual, relational, and collective levels. Unpublished manuscript.

  • Slemp, G. R., & Vella-Brodrick, D. A. (2013). The job crafting questionnaire: A new scale to measure the extent to which employees engage in job crafting. International Journal of Wellbeing, 3(2), 126–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slemp, G. R., & Vella-Brodrick, D. A. (2014). Optimising employee mental health: The relationship between intrinsic need satisfaction, job crafting, and employee well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15, 957–977. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9458-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sluss, D. M., & Ashforth, B. E. (2007). Relational identity and identification: Defining ourselves through work relationships. Academy of Management Review, 32(1), 9–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sluss, D. M., & Ashforth, B. E. (2008). How relational and organizational identification converge: Processes and conditions. Organization Science, 19(6), 807–823.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soane, E., Shantz, A., Alfes, K., Truss, C., Rees, C., & Gatenby, M. (2013). The association of meaningfulness, well-being, and engagement with absenteeism: A moderated mediation model. Human Resource Management, 52(3), 441–456.

    Google Scholar 

  • Somech, A., Desivilya, H. S., & Lidogoster, H. (2009). Team conflict management and team effectiveness: The effects of task interdependence and team identification. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30(3), 359–378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spreitzer, G. M., & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2007). Thriving in organizations. In D. L. Nelson & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), Positive organizational behavior: Accentuating the positive at work (pp. 74–85). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, K., & Parker, S. K. (2014). Effective and sustained proactivity in the workplace: A self-determination theory perspective. In M. Gagne (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of work engagement, motivation, and self-determination theory (pp. 50–71). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tavares, S. M. (2016). How does creativity at work influence employee’s positive affect at work? European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 25(4), 525–539.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. D. (1967). Organizations in action. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tims, M., Bakker, A. B., & Derks, D. (2012). Development and validation of the job crafting scale. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(1), 173–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tims, M., Bakker, A. B., & Derks, D. (2013). The impact of job crafting on job demands, job resources, and well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 18(2), 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032141.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tsai, W. C., Chi, N. W., Grandey, A. A., & Fung, S. C. (2012). Positive group affective tone and team creativity: Negative group affective tone and team trust as boundary conditions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33(5), 638–656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Broeck, A., Van Ruysseveldt, J., Vanbelle, E., & De Witte, H. (2013). The job demands-resources model: Overview and suggestions for future research. In A. B. Bakker (Ed.), Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 83–105). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Heuvel, M., Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2010). Personal resources and work engagement in the face of change. Contemporary Occupational Health Psychology: Global Perspectives on Research and Practice, 1, 124–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Vegt, G. S., & Van de Vliert, E. (2000). Team members’ affective responses to patterns of intragroup interdependence and job complexity. Journal of Management, 26(4), 633–655.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Vegt, G. S., Emans, B. J., & Van de Vliert, E. (2001). Patterns of interdependence in work teams: A two-level investigation of the relations with job and team satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 54, 51–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Vegt, G. S., Van de Vliert, E., & Oosterhof, A. (2003). Informational dissimilarity and organizational citizenship behavior: The role of intrateam interdependence and team identification. Academy of Management Journal, 46(6), 715–727.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrzesniewski, A. (2003). Finding positive meaning in work. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (pp. 296–308). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 179–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrzesniewski, A., Dutton, J. E., & Debebe, G. (2003). Interpersonal sensemaking and the meaning of work. In R. M. Kramer & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 25, pp. 93–135).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrzesniewski, A., LoBuglio, N., Dutton, J. E., & Berg, J. M. (2013). Job crafting and cultivating positive meaning and identity in work. In A. B. Bakker (Ed.), Advances in positive organizational psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 281–302). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeoman, R. (2014). Conceptualising meaningful work as a fundamental human need. Journal of Business Ethics, 125(2), 235–251.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

    Sang-Hoon Lee

  2. Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea

    Yuhyung Shin & Mihee Kim

Authors
  1. Sang-Hoon Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yuhyung Shin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mihee Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuhyung Shin.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lee, SH., Shin, Y. & Kim, M. Why work meaningfulness alone is not enough: The role of social identification and task interdependence as facilitative boundary conditions. Curr Psychol 40, 1031–1047 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0027-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0027-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation