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

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 hypothesized 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.