Job crafting and well-being in the elderly care sector: the effect of over-commitment

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the moderation effect of over-commitment in the job crafting - well-being relationship, in the elderly care sector in Spain. Design/methodology/approach - A cross-sectional design was implemented and a final sample of 353 participants were assessed using the Job Crafting Questionnaire, an adaptation of the Over-commitment Scale from the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Findings - A positive interaction between relational and task crafting and over-commitment is observed in the prediction of well-being levels. Specifically, the effect of over-commitment in the task crafting - well-being relationship proved to be statistically significant when opposed to low, medium and high levels of over-commitment. Additionally, the effect of over-commitment in the relational crafting - well-being relationship proved to be statistically significant only when opposed to medium and high levels of over-commitment. Finally, a direct and simple effect was observed between cognitive crafting and well-being, not moderated by over-commitment. Research limitations/implications - Implementation of non-behavioral measurements, and a non-longitudinal design are suggested. The development of behavioral measures for job crafting is encouraged, along with the implementation of longitudinal designs sensitive to changes in over-commitment. Possible over-commitment results are biased by an economically contracted environment. Practical implications - Job crafting training, over-commitment early detection and further research on job crafting strategies ' preferences are suggested. Originality/value - The moderating role of over-commitment in the job crafting - well-being relationship in the elderly care sector represents one of these attempts to better understand evidences of how work-related efforts modify a worker ' s psychological functioning and adaptation, which is the reason why, specially in contexts of uncertainty, its study becomes relevant.