A job is what you craft of it: A critical review of popular self‐help

Abstract

Hours spent working occupies a significant proportion of time in the lives of most adults, and work has been found to be significantly related to one’s overall happiness and well-being. Characteristics of one’s work environment and personal characteristics of workers tend to produce more or less stable levels of job satisfaction across time and across work environments, but job crafting is a relatively unexplored are of research that may provide a way for individuals to improve their job satisfaction. Self-help books could be considered one type of literature on job crafting because they prescribe ways in which employees may become more satisfied with their job. The current research scientifically examines the validity of self-help books that are accessible from a popular book website. Results indicated that self-help books are often written without any reference to the scientific literature, which is unfortunate because this would likely result in more effective suggestions. In fact, some books reviewed even made claims that were inconsistent with the scientific literature. Furthermore, many books relied on making vague suggestions such as “think positively,” and “be a team player.” It is concluded that future self-help books should be based on empirical evidence, and they should offer specific suggestions. Vague suggestions are difficult to follow, and if they are not grounded in science, they are unlikely to be effective.