TY  - EJOU
AU  - Gebresilase, Bereket Merkine 
AU  - Zhang, Chuanxia 
AU  - Biramo, Yohannes Bisa 
AU  - Elka, Zebdewos Zekarias 
AU  - Taddese, Esayas Teshome 
AU  - An, Ni 

TI  - Work engagement and work procrastination among Ethiopian civil servants: Social loafing mediation and job crafting moderation
T2  - Journal of Psychology in Africa

PY  - 
VL  - 
IS  - 
SN  - 1815-5626

AB  - 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.
KW  - Work engagement; decent jobs; social loafing; job crafting; procrastination

DO  - 10.32604/jpa.2026.079165