Electronic performance monitoring and job crafting: a psychological ownership perspective

Abstract Research on the antecedents of job crafting mainly focuses on individual differences and social contexts, while paying less attention to the impact of management practices. This study, from the perspective of psychological ownership, investigates electronic performance monitoring (EPM) as an antecedent of job crafting. We propose that EPM indirectly and negatively affects employee job crafting through psychological ownership. Additionally, we suggest that the purpose of EPM functions as a moderator, where a developmental perception of EPM may mitigate its negative impact on employee job crafting. Data were collected from a three-wave survey study involving 210 Chinese employees. The results support the negative and indirect effect of EPM on employee job crafting via psychological ownership but fail to support the moderating role of developmental EPM perception. Our study provides new insights into the unintended consequences of EPM on employee job crafting.