Illegitimate tasks, job crafting and their longitudinal relationships with meaning of work

The aims of this study were twofold: first, to investigate whether illegitimate tasks and job crafting are associated longitudinally with meaning of work, and, second, to explore whether job crafting strategies moderates longitudinally the relationship between illegitimate tasks and meaning of work. The study was based on one-year follow-up data from Finnish teachers (N = 453). A latent change model with interaction terms was conducted using structural equation modeling. The results showed that high level of unnecessary tasks was associated with low subsequent level of meaning of work. Moreover, changes in both dimensions of illegitimate tasks and meaning of work were negatively associated: the greater the increase in illegitimate tasks, the greater the decrease in meaning of work across one year. Also, latent change factors of job crafting strategies (seeking job resources and optimizing job demands) and meaning of work were positively associated. Furthermore, increased levels of seeking job resources protected against the detrimental effects of unreasonable tasks on meaning of work. To conclude, job crafting strategies should be promoted due to their direct and protective effects on meaning of work.