Are sensitive employees potential job crafters? Relational and affective pathways to proactive work adaptation

Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) has received increasing attention in organizational research, but its relevance to proactive work adaptation remains poorly understood. Drawing on Environmental Sensitivity Theory and the Job Demands-Resources framework, this study examined whether three SPS dimensions (Aesthetic Sensitivity – AES, Ease of Excitation – EOE, and Low Sensory Threshold – LST) were associated with job crafting through relational and affective workplace experiences. Data were collected from 296 employees in the United Kingdom and the United States. Two latent-variable structural equation models examined associations linking SPS dimensions to four job crafting behaviors through workplace friendship, perceived rejection, work enjoyment, and boredom. AES was associated with more favorable relational and affective workplace experiences, whereas EOE was associated with less favorable experiences. Workplace friendship accounted for positive and negative indirect associations of AES and EOE, respectively, with increasing social job resources. Work enjoyment accounted for corresponding associations of AES and EOE with increasing structural job resources and increasing challenging job demands. Indirect associations through perceived rejection were not supported. LST showed a more complex pattern of associations with workplace experiences and job crafting. Overall, the findings suggest that SPS dimensions are differentially associated with relational and affective workplace experiences and with distinct forms of job crafting.