Proactive Personality and Well-Being:The Mediating Role of Job Crafting and Career Competencies

Employees’ proactive approach in their jobs and towards their careers has become focus of increasing interest among both scholars and practitioners. However, how the two approaches co- exist and contribute to employees’ well-being remains unclear. This paper contributes to filling this gap. It offers an integration of two literatures by examining how proactive employees can optimize their well-being through both a job- (i.e., job-crafting) and career-related (i.e., career competencies) process. Specifically, we expect that employees with a proactive personality engage in job crafting behaviors by adjusting their job demands and resources in such a way that they accomplish higher levels of job satisfaction and better health. Additionally, we expect that proactive personality is related to the development of career competencies, which in turn is related to well-being. Data was collected among 574 employees working in various organizations. The results of structural equation modeling analyses offered support for the proposed model: job crafting and career competencies both mediated the positive relationship between proactive personality and well-being. The findings suggest that proactive employees can enhance their well-being through both job design and the development of career-related skills and abilities.