The leisure crafting intervention: Effects on work and non-work outcomes and the moderating role of age

Abstract

Leisure crafting (i.e. the proactive pursuit of leisure activities targeted at goal-setting, learning, and human connection) enhances people’s lives. Because employees are more than just workers, this study examines whether leisure crafting not only improves non-work outcomes but also spills over to benefit work, particularly for older employees. We conducted an online leisure crafting intervention among working adults, to examine its effects on non-work benefits (meaning in life, need satisfaction, affective well-being, and sense of community), work benefits (meaning at work, employee creativity, and work engagement), and the moderating role of age. A 5-week randomized controlled trial compared our intervention comprising 196 participants against a passive control group comprising 266 participants. Analyses revealed that the intervention group experienced a greater increase in leisure crafting (i.e. the manipulation check was significant), employee creativity, and meaning at work. In addition, the intervention positively impacted affective well-being but only for participants older than 61 years. The findings suggest that leisure crafting has the potential to positively affect people’s work lives and can serve as an effective organizational tool to help older employees sustain satisfactory affective well-being.