Do Work Stressors Facilitate or Impede Job Crafting? The Role of Employee Regulatory Focus

Abstract

We investigate the mechanism through which stressors influence job crafting. Based on regulatory focus theory, this study explores the mediating role of state regulatory focus between the challenge-hindrance stressors and job crafting, and the moderating influence of trait regulatory focus. We collected survey data in China from 578 employees working in finance, real estate, and IT industries. Results were analyzed using AMOS 24.0 and SPSS 22.0. The results reveal that challenge stressors have a positive effect on increasing structural job resources, increasing social job resources, and increasing challenging job demands via state promotion focus. Hindrance stressors have a positive effect on decreasing hindering job demands via state prevention focus. Trait promotion focus accentuates the influence of challenge-hindrance stressors on state regulatory focus, as well as the indirect effect of challenge-hindrance stressors on approach-avoidance job crafting respectively. However, trait prevention focus weakens the influence of challenge stressors on state promotion focus and the indirect effect of challenge stressors on approach job crafting. This study provides new insights on the relationship between stressors and job crafting by explaining the motivational mechanism and boundary conditions.