The mediating role of job crafting and the moderator role of age and education level in the relationship between psychological capital and life satisfaction

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of psychological capital on life satisfaction; the mediating role of job crafting, and the moderator role of age and education level. The research carried out in the structural equation model. Psychological capital is included as independent variable, while life satisfaction as dependent variable, job crafting as mediator variable, age and education level as moderator variable. The population of the study is composed of 415 employees employed in hotels operating in Samsun, registered as 4 and 5 stars degree. The research data were obtained from 386 employees in this population. In this study, Psychological Capital Scale (PSYCAP) that developed by Luthans, Avolio, Avey and Norman (2007) and adapted to Turkish by Cetin and Basım (2012) was used in order to measure psychological capital levels of employees. The Job Crafting Scale (JCS) developed by Slemp and Vella-Brodrick (2013) and adapted to Turkish by Kerse (2017) was used to measure job crafting levels. Life satisfaction measured by the Life Satisfaction Scale (GDS), which was developed by Diener, Emmons, Larsen and Griffin (1985) and adapted to Turkish by Dağlı and Baysal (2016). The research hypotheses were tested with the structural equation model. The data were analysed with the 17.00 SPSS, Process Macro and AMOS 22 Trial version package program. According to the findings, it was determined that the data were distributed normally. Pearson Correlation Test, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Regression Analysis techniques were applied. The findings showed that the life satisfaction, psychological capital and job crafting levels of the employees were high. In the study, it was seen that job crafting, relational crafting and cognitive crafting played a partial mediating role in the relationship between psychological capital and life satisfaction. As the age of the employees increases, the severity of the relationship between their optimism and life satisfaction decreases. It has been observed that the level of education plays a moderator role in the relationship between psychological capital and life satisfaction. The strongest effect is seen in associate and bachelor degree graduates. The severity of the relationship between the psychological capital and life satisfaction of employees with high school and below education level graduates and master's and above education level graduates decreases.