SS74-03 NEEDS-BASED CRAFTING: HOW WORKERS’ PROACTIVE SHAPING OF WORK AND LEISURE EXPERIENCES AFFECTS THEIR HEALTH, WELLBEING AND PERFORMANCE

Abstract Introduction An intensified and increasingly demanding and digitalized working life, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, requires new approaches to improve health and wellbeing at work and beyond. This presentation provides an overview of 5-years research progress on needs-based crafting. The Identity-based Integrative Needs Model of Crafting provides the theoretical basis for this work and underscores workers' pivotal role in shaping their environment at work and outside work. More specifically, needs-based crafting refers to workers’ efforts to actively adjust their work and off-job activities with the aim to satisfy their psychological needs for detachment, relaxation, autonomy, mastery, meaning and affiliation. Materials and Methods The presentation of results from various empirical data collections spans a range of organizational contexts and diverse global work cultures (e.g., Japan, Finland, Switzerland). Varied methodological approaches such as longitudinal surveys spanning several months and real-time ecological momentary assessments as well as intervention studies offer unique insights into when, how and why people craft. Results The findings from this research project unravel crafting's influence on health, wellbeing, and the role of delineations between life domains. Predictive factors, encompassing both persistent and situational elements, are systematically examined, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of crafting's dynamic nature. Conclusions The presentation culminates in providing insights into crafting processes, their impact on health, wellbeing, and performance. Beyond academia, we underscore crafting's important role in recalibrating people’s work-life equilibrium.