Adaptive Expertise as an Engine for Thriving: How Interactions Between Job and Contextual Resources Lead to Thriving at Work

ABSTRACT Grounded in the socially embedded model of thriving at work, this study tests a moderated mediation model examining how job and contextual resources interact to shape thriving through adaptive expertise. We conceptualize adaptive expertise as an agentic capability that serves as a mediator in our research model. In our model, job autonomy and job clarity are key resources influencing thriving via adaptive expertise, while learning resources and perceived work‐related diversity are contextual resources moderating these effects. Using data collected from 428 employees across various industries in South Korea, we found distinct interactive patterns: learning resources negatively moderated the indirect effect of job clarity on thriving through adaptive expertise, whereas perceived work‐related diversity positively moderated the indirect effect of job autonomy on thriving through adaptive expertise. These findings suggest that adaptive expertise and the related thriving at work can be enhanced by aligning contextual resources with job characteristics, beyond simply designing effective jobs. This study contributes to the integration of resource‐based perspectives into the socially embedded model of thriving and underscores the critical role of job resources in dynamic work environments.