This study aims to apply the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory to explore the dual-pathway moderated mediation of job crafting (JCr) on work engagement (WE) among higher education academics, with Psychological Empowerment (PE) as the mediator and Internal Work Locus of Control (IWLOC) as the first stage of moderation and Role Clarity (RC) as the second stage of moderation.
A three-wave longitudinal study examined data from 324 academics at Pakistani public universities, collected over one-month intervals, using SmartPLS 4 partial least squares structural equation modeling.
The JCr? WE connection is mediated by PE. The JCr? PE connection is moderated by IWLOC, with greater impacts for academics with high IWLOC. The PE? WE link is moderated by RC, and when role expectations are clear, empowered academics report higher levels of engagement. The significance of both conditional indirect effects confirms sequential boundary criteria.
Universities should examine academics’ IWLOC to discern empowering development support and systematically improve RC through open communication of roles and expectations. For resource-constrained institutions, this focused strategy is cheaper than universal initiatives.
This research extends the JD-R framework by illustrating that personal resources (IWLOC) and job resources (RC) act as sequential moderators of the motivational process at distinct stages. Cross-stage moderation tests reveal a theoretically meaningful distinction: IWLOC demonstrates stage-dominant moderation (primary f² = 0.123 vs cross-stage f² = 0.077, a 37% difference) while RC operates as a broadly distributed structural resource with statistically indistinguishable effects across both stages (f² = 0.021 and 0.022), advancing JD-R theory toward a more empirically nuanced account of sequential resource dynamics. Specifically, personal control beliefs influence the formation of empowerment, whereas organizational clarity affects its application, providing a theoretically substantiated framework for dual moderated mediation in academic settings.
