Putting others first: testing a model of prosociality and performance

Abstract

Abstract Employees reshape their roles to help others; yet existing theories explain either proactive self-directed job redesign or prosocial behavior within existing role boundaries. We introduce Prosocial Job Crafting (PSJC), a distinct form of role-based job crafting through which individuals proactively modify their jobs’ task, relational, and cognitive boundaries to create opportunities to benefit others. PSJC draws on the three dimensions of prosociality, linking perceived prosocial impact, prosocial motivation, and prosocial behavior. The paper presents two empirical studies: in Study 1, we develop and validate a new scale measuring PSJC with data collected from employees in the USA ( N = 500), and in Study 2, we test our theoretical model with matched data collected from Hungarian academic library employees ( N = 262) and performance rating from their direct supervisors ( N = 8). Perceived prosocial impact predicted all three forms of PSJC; however, only task PSJC positively predicted performance. Findings suggest that the dimensions of PSJC have distinct behavioral implications and PSJC is not a uniform phenomenon. We establish Job Crafting as not exclusively pro-self, and that prosociality can be enacted through proactive job redesign.