When and how generative AI support promotes job crafting: Mediation of GenAI self-efficacy and moderation of GenAI usage

초록

Research background: The rapid diffusion of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is transforming how employees perform and redesign their work. However, limited research has examined the psychological and contextual mechanisms through which perceived technological support translates into proactive job adaptation. This study draws on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, and social cognitive theory (SCT), to investigate how perceived GenAI support fosters job crafting. It focuses on self-efficacy toward GenAI as a mediating psychological resource and GenAI usage as a boundary condition that shapes this process. Purpose of the article: This study examines the mediating role of self-efficacy toward GenAI in the relationship between perceived GenAI support and job crafting, as well as the moderating effect of GenAI usage on this relationship. Methods: A two-wave, time-lagged survey was conducted with South Korean employees who had experience using GenAI at work. Path modeling with bootstrapping was used to test the mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation effects while controlling for demographic variables, industry, and affectivity. Findings & value added: Perceived GenAI support was positively associated with job crafting through self-efficacy toward GenAI. Furthermore, GenAI usage strengthened the effect of perceived GenAI support on self-efficacy and the indirect effect of perceived support on job crafting through self-efficacy. This study advances the literature by clarifying how external technological support is internalized into psychological resources and activated through usage to promote proactive work redesign. The findings provide a refined theoretical explanation for adaptive employee behavior in AI-enabled workplaces by extending COR theory and SCT to human-AI collaboration contexts and highlighting the central role of domain-specific self-efficacy.

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