Navigating autonomy: unraveling the dual influence of job autonomy on workplace well-being in the gig economy.

Introduction: With the rapid rise of the gig economy globally, its characteristics of promoting employment and facilitating autonomy have supported its rapid growth and development in China. While the flexibility of gig work offers more employment options and income sources for workers, it also caused many problems and uncertainties. Workplace well-being is an important psychological factor that indicates the psychological state of workers and significantly predicts their behavior at work. However, previous studies on the gig economy rarely analyze gig workers' workplace well-being, which is of great significance to improving their individual emotions, promoting their physical and mental health, and maintaining the sustainable development of the gig economy and society in general. Methods: This study draws on the cognitive-affective processing system framework to construct a moderated dual-mediator model to explore the dual influence mechanism of job autonomy on gig workers' workplace well-being. Based on the data of 442 digital gig workers who were mainly engaged in manual labor. Results: The survey results show that job autonomy positively affects employees' workplace well-being, and work alienation and positive emotion mediate this relationship. Perceived algorithmic control can moderate not only the influence of job autonomy on work alienation and positive emotion but also the indirect impact of job autonomy on workplace well-being through work alienation and positive emotion. Discussion: The finding of this research contributes to expand the comprehension of the relationship between gig-worker job autonomy and workplace wellbeing and this relationship's underlying mechanism, holding significant implications for management practice.

The effects of psychological capital, work engagement and job autonomy on job performance in platform flexible employees.

The performance of platform flexible employees is a core element that contributes to the rapid growth of the sharing economy platform. It is crucial to explore strategies to improve employees' performance with the growing competition among these platforms. Only a handful of research evidence has been found evaluating platform flexible employees' psychological capital and work engagement to improve their performance. In order to remedy the gap, we draw on self-determination theory to develop a moderated mediation model, which examines how psychological capital affects platform flexible employees' job performance. We employed hierarchical regression analysis to test the theoretical model and carried out two rounds of surveys, resulting in 474 valid paired questionnaires. The questionnaire assessed the psychological capital, work engagement, job performance, and job autonomy of flexible platform employees. The results indicate that work engagement plays a mediating role between psychological capital affects platform flexible employees' job performance. Moreover, job autonomy moderates the mediating effect. The findings not only contribute to the literature on employees' psychological capital and job performance, but also broaden the research scope of self-determination theory, and provide new ideas for improving the job performance of platform flexible employees.

Relationship between job challenge and job performance in the Korean Army: The mediating effect of learning agility and the moderating effect of job autonomy.

This study aims to identify the relationship among job challenge, learning agility, job autonomy, and job performance based on job demand-resources model. In particular, this study examined the mediating role of learning agility in the relationship between Job challenge and job performance, which has rarely been conducted. Furthermore, the moderating effect of job autonomy as job resource was explored. The data collected were from army officers and noncommissioned officers (NCO) of the Korean Army (N = 425). We hypothesized that there is a positive relationship among Job challenge and learning agility, Job challenge and job performance, the mediating role of learning agility in the relationship between Job challenge and job performance, and the moderating role of job autonomy. As predicted, we found that Job challenge was positively related to learning agility and job performance. We also found a mediating effect of learning agility on the relationship between Job challenge and job performance. Furthermore, job autonomy moderated the positive relationship between Job challenge and learning agility, although the moderating effect of job autonomy between Job challenge and job performance was not significant. Finally, the indirect relationship between Job challenge and job performance, via learning agility, was stronger for the higher job autonomy group than for the lower job autonomy group. The, theoretical and practical contributions and suggestions for future studies on learning agility and job characteristics are discussed.

How does perceived overqualification promote employees' creative deviance: The role of leadership emergence and job autonomy.

Inspiring the creative potential of overqualified employees can facilitate a mutually beneficial outcome for both the company and the employees. However, further investigation is required to ascertain how to stimulate the perceived overqualification of employees to carry out creative deviance. Drawing upon role theory, this study explores the impact mechanism of perceived overqualification on employee creative deviance, with leadership emergence as the mediating variable, and further examines the moderating role of job autonomy. Adopting a two-stage design, 362 valid data samples were collected from various companies, and analysis was conducted using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results indicate a positive correlation between perceived overqualification and creative deviance. Perceived overqualification not only positively influences leadership emergence but it also indirectly affects creative deviance through leadership emergence. Furthermore, when individuals with perceived overqualification and possess a greater level of job autonomy, they are more likely to engage in creative deviant behavior. The findings contribute to understanding the mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions of employees' perceived overqualification influencing creative deviance from a positive perspective, offering valuable managerial insights for organizations.

From self-commitment to career crafting: The mediating role of career adaptability and the moderating role of job autonomy.

The objective of this study is to explore the influence of self-commitment on career crafting, examining the mediating role of career adaptability and the moderating effect of job autonomy within the context of career construction theory. This research aims to deepens our understanding of the key mechanisms that underpin successful career development, providing valuable insights for both individuals and organizations to enhance career success and adaptability. Utilizing a two-wave survey methodology, we collected data from 363 full-time employees across various industries in the United States. Hierarchical regression analysis and the PROCESS Macro were employed to test the proposed hypotheses. Our findings reveal that self-commitment significantly enhances career crafting through career adaptability. Additionally, job autonomy was found to influence both the direct relationship between self-commitment and career adaptability, and the indirect relationship between self-commitment and career crafting. This study highlights the pathways linking self-commitment to career crafting, underscoring the importance of career adaptability as a developmental tool facilitated by job autonomy. We recommend that individuals commit to their personal growth to enhance their career adaptability and actively shape their careers. Meanwhile, organizations should focus on promoting job autonomy to foster career development, benefiting both employees and the broader organizational ecosystem.

Delving into the link between employee proactivity and knowledge sharing: A multilevel mediated moderation investigation.

This study examines why and when proactive employees share knowledge. By integrating the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability Framework and Trait Activation Theory, and incorporating Mindsponge Theory, our multi-level model proposed that job autonomy moderates the impact of proactive personality on knowledge sharing (KS) within and between teams. Transformational leadership exhibits a cross-level effect on job autonomy. Utilizing a two-source, three-time-point research design, we collected data from 63 team leaders and 241 team members across six Chinese companies. Multilevel regression analysis revealed that within teams, increased job autonomy coupled with a proactive personality significantly enhanced KS. Between teams, job autonomy had a positive moderating effect. When job autonomy was low, more proactive teams exhibited less KS, whereas this negative effect was mitigated when job autonomy was high. The cross-level effect of transformational leadership on job autonomy was demonstrated. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Cognitive Job Demands and Sports Participation among Young Workers: What Moderates the Relationship?

Cognitive job demands are theoretically and empirically associated with sports participation in various ways. Workers may be overwhelmed by stress and fatigue from their workload and therefore refrain from sports activities, but they can also feel the need to use sports as a way to recover and detach from work. The strategy to which workers adhere can depend on workers' resources that moderate the cognitive job demands and sports participation relationship, such as educational attainment, being a parent, or having worktime and work location control. To test our expectations, we used recent information on sports participation by young working adults from the Netherlands (N = 2032). Using multinomial logistic regression modelling, we found that workers in mentally demanding jobs were more likely to participate in sports more than three times a week. In particular, workers without children reported a higher likelihood of participating in sports more than three times a week when they experienced high cognitive job demands. Among the higher-educated, workers with high cognitive job demands were less likely to participate in sports one to three times a week. We reflect on the academic and policy-related implications of our findings.

The relationship between servant leadership and nurses' in-role performance: The sequential mediating effects of job autonomy and emotional exhaustion.

AIMS: Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, this study examines the underlying process through which servant leadership is associated with nurses' in-role performance. Specifically, we test the indirect effect of servant leadership on in-role performance via a sequential mediating mechanism of job autonomy and emotional exhaustion. DESIGN: A time-lagged design was implemented using data gathered from two-wave online surveys (1 week apart) of registered nurses from Jiangsu Province, China. METHODS: Between September 2022 and February 2023, we used Wenjuanxing and Credma, which are two powerful and user-friendly data collection platforms, to distribute online surveys to potential participants. We received a total of 220 usable responses and employed the PROCESS Model 4 and Model 6 to assess our proposed hypotheses. RESULTS: Our proposed model was supported. Servant leadership has a positive indirect effect on nurses' in-role performance through job autonomy and emotional exhaustion. Job autonomy has a negative effect on emotional exhaustion. Additionally, job autonomy mediates the negative relationship between servant leadership and emotional exhaustion. CONCLUSION: The present research extends existing nursing studies by unravelling the complex mechanisms underlying the relationship between servant leadership and nurses' in-role performance. Our study also identifies the underlying mechanism of how servant leadership mitigates emotional exhaustion by supporting nurses' job autonomy. IMPACT: The sequential mediation results provide us with a more fine-grained understanding of the relationship between servant leadership and nurses' in-role performance. It further promotes job autonomy and decreases emotional exhaustion, which supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal #3 (Good Health and Well-being). PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This study addresses the UN Sustainable Development Goal #3: 'To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages' and the healthcare providers will benefit from our study. Therefore, the study contributes to a more sustainable organization and society.

When does cognitive crafting matter more in enhancing employee thriving at work? The moderating role of skill variety and job autonomy.

The job crafting literature has not devoted much attention to the effects of specific forms of job crafting, particularly cognitive crafting. The present study builds on Conservation of Resources theory to explain how cognitive crafting might influence work meaningfulness for employees, and in turn, increase their experienced thriving at work. Moreover, we hypothesise that the impact of cognitive crafting on these outcomes is influenced by two motivational job characteristics: skill variety and job autonomy. To test our hypotheses, we collected three-wave survey data from 223 employees employed in a variety of occupations and industries in China. Results indicate that engaging in cognitive crafting enhances employees' work meaningfulness, resulting in thriving at work. Furthermore, skill variety and job autonomy are crucial moderators of these relationships. Specifically, when employees perceived low levels of skill variety or job autonomy, engaging in cognitive crafting was more likely to lead to enhanced work meaningfulness, which in turn resulted in higher levels of thriving at work. Implications for research, theory and practice are discussed.

The job demands-resource model and performance: the mediating role of employee engagement.

In case of a major social crisis, such as the coronavirus pandemic, the most important measure is to identify the determinants influencing employee health and well-being, which are directly linked to workplace job performance. Many studies have explored the role of employee engagement in the relationship between job resources, psychological capital, and job performance; however, only a few have investigated the relationships reflecting rapid changes in the work environment represented by digital transformation and a major social crisis. Considering this, this study examines how job autonomy and psychological well-being, which lower employee anxiety about health and welfare, influence in-role performance in the form of proactive employee characteristics as well as extra-role performance in the form of prosocial behavior, as mediated by employee engagement. The results of the data analysis of 1,092 corporate employees in Korea supported this model. Specifically, job autonomy and psychological well-being influence job performance (i.e., personal initiative and prosocial behavior) through improvements in employee engagement. Based on these findings, the study also discusses the implications of the results, future directions, and limitations.

The Role of Job Crafting and Psychological Capital in the Relationship between Job Autonomy and Work Engagement: A Serial Mediation Model.

Work engagement is a scientifically consolidated variable, due to its fundamental role in business practice. To increase work engagement in companies, it is necessary to know which variables are antecedents and how they relate to each other. These variables include job autonomy, job crafting, and psychological capital. This research evaluates the relationships between job autonomy, job crafting, psychological capital, and work engagement. Specifically, based on the job demands and resources model and the conservation of resources theory, the study examines these relationships in a sample of 483 employees, through a serial mediation model. The results show that job crafting, and psychological capital mediates the relationship between job autonomy and work engagement. These results have practical implications for interventions to promote employee work engagement.

Job Autonomy and Work Meaning: Drivers of Employee Job-Crafting Behaviors in the VUCA Times.

In the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment (VUCA), employees can better match the organization and jobs by crafting their job perceptions, work tasks, and relationships, which is valuable to maintain organizational sustainable competitiveness and promote employees' personal growth. This study explores the influence mechanisms of job autonomy and work meaning on employees' job-crafting behaviors and the moderating effect of perceived organizational change through a survey of 318 employees in Chinese companies. The results show that job autonomy and work meaning can promote employees' job-crafting behaviors by increasing individuals' harmonious work passion. The indirect effects of job autonomy and work meaning on employee job-crafting behaviors through harmonious work passion are stronger for individuals with high perceived organizational change relative to those with low perceived organizational change. Organizations should concentrate on job redesign to improve employees' job autonomy and work meaning. A climate of change should also be created within the organization to keep employees aware of the crisis. Meanwhile, employees should actively use work resources to meet the changing needs of organizational development and promote individual career development through job-crafting behaviors.

The double-edged sword effect of telecommuting on employees' work engagement: evidence from China during COVID-19.

Purpose: Drawing on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this study aims to explore how telecommuting affects employee' work engagement, and consider how perceived supervisor support moderates this effect. Design/methodology/approach: A time-lagged study was conducted on 286 employees from four enterprises in southern China. Findings: The results showed that telecommuting both decreased work engagement by triggering work-family conflict and enhanced work engagement by increasing job autonomy. In addition, perceived supervisor support enhanced the positive direct effect of telecommuting on job autonomy and the indirect effect on employee' work engagement, while perceived supervisor support weakened the negative direct effect of telecommuting on work-family conflict and the indirect effect on employee' work engagement. Originality/value: This study enrich the literature on telecommuting and employee engagement, and emphasize the importance of perceived supervisor support in this context. Additionally, this study provides some practical implications for companies to adapt and manage telecommuting.

Overtime work, job autonomy, and employees' subjective well-being: Evidence from China.

Introduction: Chinese workers suffer more from overtime than in many countries. Excessive working hours can crowd out personal time and cause work-family imbalance, affecting workers' subjective well-being. Meanwhile, self-determination theory suggests that higher job autonomy may improve the subjective well-being of employees. Methods: Data came from the 2018 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS 2018). The analysis sample consisted of 4,007 respondents. Their mean age was 40.71 (SD = 11.68), and 52.8% were males. This study adopted four measures of subjective well-being: happiness, life satisfaction, health status, and depression. Confirmation factor analysis was employed to extract the job autonomy factor. Multiple linear regression methods were applied to examine the relationship between overtime, job autonomy, and subjective well-being. Results: Overtime hours showed weak association with lower happiness (ß = -0.002, p < 0.01), life satisfaction (ß = -0.002, p < 0.01), and health status (ß = -0.002, p < 0.001). Job autonomy was positively related to happiness (ß = 0.093, p < 0.01), life satisfaction (ß = 0.083, p < 0.01). There was a significant negative correlation between involuntary overtime and subjective well-being. Involuntary overtime might decrease the level of happiness (ß = -0.187, p < 0.001), life satisfaction (ß = -0.221, p < 0.001), and health status (ß = -0.129, p < 0.05) and increase the depressive symptoms (ß = 1.157, p < 0.05). Conclusion: While overtime had a minimal negative effect on individual subjective well-being, involuntary overtime significantly enlarged it. Improving individual's job autonomy is beneficial for individual subjective well-being.

"Out of office": Availability norms and feeling burned out during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of autonomy and telepressure.

Introduction: Digital innovations make it possible to work anywhere and anytime using any kind of device. Given these evolutions, availability norms are emerging at work. These norms specifically refer to the experienced beliefs or expectations from colleagues or superiors to be available for work-related communication after regular work hours. We rely on the Job-Demands Resources Model as we aim to investigate the relationship between these availability norms and burnout symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. We first of all study to what extent availability norms are associated with heightened burnout symptoms. Secondly, we study how both a personal demand, namely telepressure, and a job resource, namely autonomy, could offer distinct and relevant explanations for the role these availability norms play in experiencing burnout symptoms. Method: We collected data through a survey study with 229 employees from various organizations in the second half of 2020. Results: The findings indicated that indeed availability norms are significantly associated with more burnout symptoms and that both heightened telepressure and reduced autonomy mediated this relationship. Discussion: This study contributes to theory and practice as we offer insight into how availability norms at work could be detrimental for the occupational health of employees, which can be taken into account when setting up rules and regulations at work.

Effects of Performance Pressure of Junior Faculty in Universities on Organizational Socialization: The Moderating Role of Organizational Support and Job Autonomy.

Purpose: Identification and recruitment of excellent junior faculty, and improving their organizational recognition and sense of belonging are the basis for sustainable development of high-quality colleges and universities. During the pre-employment period, the management of junior faculty in the by various colleges and universities focuses on screening, while organizational socialization tends to be ignored. Materials and Methods: Based on the organizational identification theory, 438 new faculty members of colleges and universities were enrolled to investigate the effects of performance pressure on junior faculty by colleges and universities on their organizational socialization, as well as the dual regulation roles of perceived organizational support and job autonomy. Results: Empirical analysis reveals that performance pressure has an inverted-U-shaped effect on organizational socialization of junior faculty members; the perceived organizational support negatively regulates the effects of performance pressure on organizational socialization; job autonomy regulates the effects of performance pressure on organizational socialization of junior faculty members by influencing organizational support of junior faculty members, indicating that job autonomy has secondary regulating effects on correlation of performance pressure with organizational socialization of junior faculty members. Conclusion: This study elucidates the regulating effect of performance pressure on organizational socialization and explains the phenomenon that many junior faculty members in colleges and universities tend to avoid public affairs, do not integrate into the community and actively take responsibility for their work, which is of theoretical and practical value in the management of performance pressure among junior faculty members in colleges and universities.

Influence of job autonomy on job crafting of dental hygienists.

OBJECTIVES: Job autonomy focuses on the job performance and tasks of health providers with a national licence in South Korea, which affects job crafting, to develop job competency. This study was conducted to identify the influence of job autonomy on job crafting of dental hygienists. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 411 dental hygienists extracted through convenience sampling from a pool of 35,000 clinical dental hygienists in South Korea. Measuring tool are Korean version of the Job Crafting Questionnaire (JCQ-K) and job autonomy questionnaire (JAQ). To investigate the level of job autonomy and crafting of dental hygienists based on their general characteristics, t-tests and one-way ANOVAs were performed. Pearson correlation was performed to determine the linear correlation between autonomy and crafting. To determine whether job autonomy affects job crafting, an adjusted regression analysis was conducted using general characteristics as control variables. RESULTS: High job autonomy and job crafting were associated with increases in participant age with job experience as a senior staff, education level, and work environment, such as dental office or hospital. A significant positive correlation was observed (r = 0.64) between job autonomy and job crafting. Job autonomy (ß = 0.58) and dental/medical hospital in university (ß = 0.13) had a significant relationship with dental hygienists' job crafting. CONCLUSIONS: Job autonomy could positively influence the job crafting of dental hygienists in South Korea. Our findings suggest that job latitude should be redesigned to promote task competency and social responsibility with a health outcome perspective for the population as well as the dental hygiene profession.

Work-family conflict and withdrawal behavior among mainland China's IT employees: the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and moderating role of job autonomy.

Since the turn of the millennium, the information technology (IT) industry has been growing rapidly in mainland China. One of the significant characteristics of IT employees in mainland China during the past decades was that they tended to work more overtime, which might result in more work-family conflicts and higher turnover rates. Our study tested the mechanism of work-family conflict and work withdrawal behaviors using data from 389 IT employees in mainland China. Using the job demands-resources model and the conservation of resources theory, we examined the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion and the moderating effect of job autonomy. The results indicated that work-to-family conflict was negatively related with work withdrawal behaviors, whereas family-to-work conflict was positively related with work withdrawal behaviors. Moreover, we found the opposite moderating role of job autonomy, which enhanced the relationships between emotional exhaustion and work withdrawal behaviors. That is, the relationship was stronger among employees with higher job autonomy than among those with lower job autonomy. These findings indicate that work-family conflict relates to employees' psychological well-being and behavior, and that job autonomy might play a special role between work-family conflict and work withdrawal behaviors.

Double Jeopardy: The Roles of Job Autonomy and Spousal Gender Ideology in Employed Women's Mental Health.

Employed women persistently suffer in mental health despite more family-friendly workplaces. The job demand-control theory argues that employed women's mental health depends on their job autonomy, while sociological research on the gender division of household labor locates the cause in how much they are expected by husbands to contribute to housework. The article integrates the two streams of literature by arguing that employed women's job autonomy and their spousal gender ideology interact to shape their mental health. Using nationally representative household-level panel survey and fixed effects models, the study showed that job autonomy improved employed women's mental health, but the benefits depended on their spousal gender ideologies. Specifically, women suffered a "double jeopardy" in mental health when they lacked job autonomy and had traditional husbands. In contrast, when women's husbands had an egalitarian gender ideology, they enjoyed mental health regardless of job autonomy. In addition, women's self-gender ideology did not predict their own or their husbands' mental health. The results point to a societal-level change in men's gender ideology as a fundamental way to improve employed women's family well-being. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11482-022-10090-8.

Impact of job demands on police stress response-the roles of basic psychological needs and job autonomy.

BACKGROUND: Police officers are a high-stress group with special job characteristics, and the Chinese police management system places particularly high demands on police officers. Whether the influence of job demands on officers' job burnout can be deduced to general stress response needs to be verified. Based on the JD-R model, the study aims to explore the impact of job demands on police stress response, whether job autonomy as a job resource has a moderating effect, and whether basic psychological needs mediate this effect. METHODS: A total of 251 police officers in a district-level public security bureau of China, were surveyed using Chinese-language versions of the Job Demands Scale, the Stress Response Scale, the Job Autonomy Scale, and the Basic Psychological Needs Scale. The mediating effect of basic psychological needs and the moderating effect of job autonomy were tested by regression analysis and bootstrap test. RESULTS: Job demands increase police officers' stress response, and job autonomy does not play a buffer role but enhances this impact, and job demands can partially reduce the police stress response through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, that is, there is a masking effect of basic psychological needs. CONCLUSIONS: Adjusting and optimizing the ratio of job demands and autonomy in police work to provide high guidance under high demands is of great value to reduce the negative stress responses among police officers.