Work engagement and work procrastination among Ethiopian civil servants: Social loafing mediation and job crafting moderation

Bereket Merkine Gebresilase^1,*, Chuanxia Zhang¹, Yohannes Bisa Biramo², Zebdewos Zekarias Elka², Esayas Teshome Taddese³, Ni An⁴
1 College of General Education, Shandong Xiehe University, Jinan, China
2 Department of Psychology, Wolaita Sodo University, Sodo, Ethiopia
3 Faculty of Education and Liberal Arts, INTI International University, Nilai, Malaysia
4 Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
* Corresponding Author: Bereket Merkine Gebresilase. Email: email
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Psychological and Behavioral Responses in the Workplace: A Psychological Perspective on Positivity and Negativity)

Journal of Psychology in Africa https://doi.org/10.32604/jpa.2026.079165

Received 15 January 2026; Accepted 27 April 2026; Published online 10 August 2026

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Abstract

This study investigated whether and how social loafing mediates the relationship between work engagement and work procrastination, and if this pathway is moderated by job crafting. Data from 322 civil servants (58% male; mean age = 29.52 years, SD = 2.78) were analyzed using PROCESS macro (Model 14). The results confirmed a partial mediation model, indicating that work engagement reduces procrastination both directly and indirectly by diminishing social loafing. Furthermore, job crafting significantly moderates this relationship, with higher work engagement and less social loafing among employees who engaged in high levels of job crafting. These findings position job crafting as a critical mechanism that strengthens engagement’s capacity to mitigate counterproductive behaviors. Findings align with the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, which proposes that job resources such as work engagement and job crafting activate motivational processes that reduce negative workplace behaviors (e.g., social loafing and procrastination) while enhancing employee well-being and performance. By implication, the study findings suggest a need for fostering both work engagement and job crafting initiatives as a dual-pronged strategy for public sector organizations to curb procrastination and improve organizational performance.