Promoting Flow at Work through Proactive Personality: A Sequential Mediation Model with Evidence from Italian Employees

Abstract

In recent years, organizations have increasingly become aware of the importance of employee happiness as well as the role of HRM practices and personal resources in promoting well-being at work. Based on the Job Demand–Resources model, we investigated ways in which proactive personality may predict flow at work through sequential mediation via job crafting and work engagement. A total of 362 Italian employees completed an online questionnaire. The results showed a positive correlation between proactive personality, job crafting, and work engagement and flow at work. Additionally, proactive personality had a positive total effect on work engagement and flow at work. However, the significant effect on flow at work disappeared in favor of the sequential indirect effect. These results suggest that proactive employees experience flow at work through the mediating role of job crafting and work engagement. This paper contributes to scientific knowledge by filling a gap in the literature around the mechanisms which underly the relationship between proactivity and flow at work. Furthermore, it provides new evidence and new insights about the role of personal resources in promoting flow in the workplace. Our results here can provide practical implications for organizations.