Unlocking potential: How flexibility i‐deals promote job crafting through social interaction among persons with disabilities

Abstract Although scholars and practitioners recognize the prevalence of flexibility idiosyncratic deals (i‐deals), little is known about how persons with disabilities (PWD) leverage these arrangements to influence work outcomes such as job crafting. Understanding this relationship is important because job crafting enables PWD to proactively adapt work to their unique needs and capabilities. Integrating conservation of resources theory and a social interaction perspective, we propose that flexibility i‐deals foster job crafting among PWD through coactive vicarious learning, contingent on disability status diversity and acceptance of disability. We tested this model in two complementary three‐wave, time‐lagged studies conducted in China. Study 1 confirmed that the positive direct effect of flexibility i‐deals on coactive vicarious learning was stronger for PWD in teams with a high diversity of disability status, rather than those in teams with low disability status diversity. As expected, the indirect effect of flexibility i‐deals on job crafting through coactive vicarious learning was also stronger when PWD were in teams with a high diversity of disability status, rather than those in teams with low disability status diversity. Study 2 replicated these findings and further revealed that acceptance of disability amplifies the relationship. Our findings provide new insights into how personal resources and social interaction contribute to the effectiveness of flexibility i‐deals in encouraging PWD to engage in job crafting.