Psychological capital and career success over time. The mediating role of job crafting

The present study aims to investigate the mediating role of job crafting, namely the set of proactive behaviors aimed at shaping the job role according to one’s preferences, in the relationship between psychological capital (PsyCap) and career success. This latter was operationalized as both a worker’s subjective perception (i.e., job satisfaction) and an objective attainment (i.e., change of hierarchical level, namely promotion). A two-wave study on 349 employees from a large service organization, working as middle managers, was conducted matching participants’ self-reported data (i.e., PsyCap, job crafting, and job satisfaction) with their hierarchical level, provided by the HR department. The results from the longitudinal structural equation model supported the posited links among variables and thus confirmed the positive influence of PsyCap on crafting behaviors, which in turn positively affected both job satisfaction and promotions over time. Moreover, job crafting reciprocally and positively influenced PsyCap. Finally, job crafting fully mediated the effect of PsyCap on job satisfaction, as well as those on promotions, pointing to the key role of agentic behaviors in translating one’s psychological resources in subjective and objective career success. Future research directions and practical implications for organizations are discussed.