Cognitive job crafting: an intervening mechanism between intrinsic motivation and affective well-being

Purpose - Employees often reframe their work roles and ascribe meaning to their jobs, which is called cognitive job crafting (CJC). Although scholars have identified the importance of CJC, there remains a lack of evidence on what motivational characteristics affect initiating such cognitive changes and how these cognitive changes affect one’s well-being. Drawing on job design and self-determination theories, this study aims to investigate how intrinsic motivations affect CJC and, thus, optimize affective well-being (AWB) through cognitive changes. Design/methodology/approach - The cross-sectional data were collected using online questionnaires from 327 white-collar employees working in various organizations. The validity of the hypothesized model was tested by using structural equation modeling. Hypotheses were tested using Process analysis. Findings - The findings showed that intrinsic motivations (i.e. self-determination and meaning) were positively related to CJC, which resulted in increased positive affection and decreased negative affection, reflecting a mediating mechanism. Practical implications - The authors suggest that practitioners can enhance employee well-being by implementing policies that value proactive job redesign strategies (e.g. job crafting training). Thus, the practitioners may motivate employees to craft their jobs, which leads employees to engage and perform well. Originality/value - The results of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of job crafting initiatives by providing evidence for the role of motivational and cognitive mechanisms that help optimize well-being at work.