Personal growth initiative as a predictor of psychological empowerment: The mediating role of job crafting

• Published date: 01 September 2019
• Date: 01 September 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21347
• Author: Makoto Matsuo

QUANTITATIVE STUDY

Personal growth initiative as a predictor of

psychological empowerment: The mediating role

of job crafting

Makoto Matsuo

Graduate School of Economics and Business

Administration, Hokkaido University, Sapporo,

Hokkaido, Japan

Correspondence

Makoto Matsuo, Professor of Management,

Graduate School of Economics and Business

Administration, Hokkaido University, Kita9

Nishi7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.

Email: mmatsuo@econ.hokudai.ac.jp

Funding information

JSPS KAKENHI, Grant/Award number:

26285078.

Previous research has investigated the effects of socio-

organizational factors on psychological empowerment (PE),

whereas only a limited number of studies have examined the

influence of individual characteristics on PE. Drawing on self-

determination theory and social capital theory, this study hypothe-

sized that personal growth initiative (PGI), a set of skills that

facilitate self-change, has an indirect and positive influence on PE

as mediated by three types of job crafting. The results of a two-

wave longitudinal survey of 320 employees in the US indicate that

PGI had an indirect positive influence on PE that was mediated by

the following: (a) increasing structural job resources; (b) increasing

challenging job demands; and (c) increasing social job resources,

which subsequently leads to increasing challenging job demands.

These findings contribute to the existing literature by elucidating

the importance of self-initiated change processes at work.

KEYWORDS

job crafting, personal growth initiative, psychological

empowerment, self-determination, social capital

1|INTRODUCTION

According to self-determination theory, an autonomous motivational orientation tends to be associated with better

psychological health, more advanced development, and enhanced performance (Deci, Olafsen, & Ryan, 2017; Deci &

Ryan, 2008; Ryan & Deci, 2000). In organizational settings, employees are more likely to be autonomous when they

feel psychologically empowered or experience a sense of control in relation to their work (Spreitzer, 2008). Prior

studies have shown that psychological empowerment (PE), or a psychological state based on four cognitions

(meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact; Spreitzer,1995), positively influences work outcomes, including

behavioral involvement (Boudrias, Morin, & Lajoie, 2014), organizational commitment (Liden, Wayne, & Sparrowe,

DOI: 10.1002/hrdq.21347

© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Human Resource Development Quarterly. 2019;30:343–360. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrdq 343

2000), engagement in creative processes (Zhang & Bartol, 2010), customer-oriented citizenship behaviors (Kang &

Bartlett, 2013), and performance (Maynard, Luciano, D’Innocenzo, Mathieu, & Dean, 2014). Indeed, relevant research

has convincingly confirmed that enhancing PE helps organizations promote innovation and performance.

However, the antecedents of PE have not been fully explicated. Specifically, previous studies have focused pri-

marily on the effects of socio-organizational factors, such as job characteristics (Liden et al., 2000), leadership

(e.g., Raub & Robert, 2010; Zhang & Bartol, 2010), supervisor feedback (Gabriel, Frantz, Levy, & Hilliard, 2014), and

the empowerment climate (Seibert, Silver, & Randolph, 2004) on PE. However, only limited research has examined

the roles played by personal traits or individual characteristics in terms of enhancing PE (e.g., Bartram, Karimi,

Leggat, & Stanton, 2014). These trends suggest that prior research has underestimated the role of employees in

actively shaping the tasks and social relationships that comprise a job. Importantly, it should be noted that employees

can be psychologically empowered by engaging in self-initiated changes at work even when there is no support from

their organizations or supervisors to do so (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). Research on the personal traits and char-

acteristics associated with the self-initiated/self-change processes that contribute to PE is needed to fill this gap in

the literature.

To this end, this study focused on the role of personal growth initiative (PGI), a set of four skills—readiness for

change, planfulness, use of resources, and intentional behavior—that are developed for self-improvement and are

applied over the course of one’s life (Robitschek et al., 2012). This concept may allow us to identify the particular

self-determination processes by which skills for self-change promote PE. However, PGI has been, thus far, examined

primarily by those interested in counseling or clinical psychology (e.g., Hardin, Weigold, Robischek, & Nixon, 2007;

Shigemoto, Low, Borowa, & Robitschek, 2017), and only limited research has applied this concept to models in orga-

nizational fields (e.g., Robitschek & Cook, 1999). Based on perspectives drawn from self-determination theory

(Deci & Ryan, 2008; Ryan & Deci, 2000), PGI may be considered a launching point for the development of PE, as it

may serve the important function of triggering self-initiated changes at work.

However, there must be work-related mediators that link PGI and PE, because PE is a work-related construct,

whereas PGI refers to general skills facilitating self-changes that affect all life experiences. Thus, this study examined

job crafting as a mediator between PGI and PE. Job crafting was selected because this concept refers to self-initiated

change behaviors by which employees attempt to align their jobs with their own preferences, motivations, and pas-

sions (Tims, Bakker, & Derks, 2012). Job crafting has a positive impact on work engagement (Bakker, Tims, & Derks,

2012; Tims et al., 2012), person–job fit (Lu, Wang, Lu, Du, & Bakker, 2014), and task performance (Petrou,

Demerouti, & Schaufeli, 2015), whereas little is known about the relationship between job crafting and PE. Given

that PE is a result of the task assessments made by individuals (Thomas & Velhouse, 1990) and given that job crafting

is a work-related process of change, PGI may catalyze employees’overall self-change skills, leading them to craft or

change their jobs in ways that result in PE.

The primary goal of this study was to examine the mediating effects of three types of job crafting (increasing

structural job resources, increasing social job resources, and increasing job challenges) on the relationship between

PGI and PE, drawing on self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2008; Ryan & Deci, 2000) and social capital theory

(Adler & Kwon, 2002; Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). One major contribution of this study to the existing literature is its

exploration of the self-initiated process of PE in terms of PGI and job crafting. Because self-determination theory

does not include constructs for the “skills”or “behaviors”involved in self-change, investigation of the roles of PGI

and job crafting as predictors of PE will contribute to the promotion of self-determination at work. Additionally, as

the relationship between job crafting and PE has not been fully studied, this article extends prior research by demon-

strating how three types of job crafting enhance the psychological state of empowerment, which may provide

insights related to the self-initiated process of feeling in control at work.

This article is organized as follows. The next section develops the conceptual model shown in Figure 1 through a

review of the literature on PE, job crafting, and PGI. Next, the quantitative methodology used in this research is

described; then, the results of a longitudinal survey with employees in US organizations (n= 320) are presented.

Finally, the results are discussed from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

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