Can Job-Related and Personal Resources Extend Occupational Future Time Perspective? The Mediating Role of Job Crafting

Maintaining work ability and motivation to continue working remain current topics due to aging workforces. Lifespan developmental research conceptualizes occupational future time perspective (OFTP) as an important construct in the context of successful aging. Our study uses the process model of successful aging at work (Kooij et al., 2020) as an overarching framework and investigates antecedents of OFTP and the role of job crafting as a self-regulation mechanism for OFTP. We hypothesize that learning-related task characteristics (i.e., a combination of task identity, job autonomy, skill variety, and feedback) and occupational self-efficacy positively affect OFTP and that these associations are mediated by promotion- and prevention-focused job crafting. In our preregistered study, we used a cross-lagged panel design to analyze two-wave data based on responses from 184 white-collar workers. Our results confirm occupational self-efficacy as a personal antecedent of OFTP and job crafting as a mediator. However, the observed associations are more complex than predicted. Contrary to our initial hypotheses, we found a positive indirect effect of OFTP on learning-related task characteristics via promotion-focused job crafting, and a negative effect of OFTP on prevention-focused job crafting. The findings highlight the significance of occupational self-efficacy as a personal resource for the development of OFTP and OFTP as an important antecedent of job crafting. Finally, we discuss theoretical and practical implications of our findings for further research on successful aging at work.