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91
Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design features: A meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature
- Journal of Applied Psychology
, 2007
"... The authors developed and meta-analytically examined hypotheses designed to test and extend work design theory by integrating motivational, social, and work context characteristics. Results from a summary of 259 studies and 219,625 participants showed that 14 work characteristics explained, on avera ..."
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Cited by 65 (6 self)
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The authors developed and meta-analytically examined hypotheses designed to test and extend work design theory by integrating motivational, social, and work context characteristics. Results from a summary of 259 studies and 219,625 participants showed that 14 work characteristics explained, on average, 43 % of the variance in the 19 worker attitudes and behaviors examined. For example, motivational characteristics explained 25 % of the variance in subjective performance, 2 % in turnover perceptions, 34 % in job satisfaction, 24 % in organizational commitment, and 26 % in role perception outcomes. Beyond motivational characteristics, social characteristics explained incremental variances of 9 % of the variance in subjective performance, 24 % in turnover intentions, 17 % in job satisfaction, 40% in organizational commitment, and 18 % in role perception outcomes. Finally, beyond both motivational and social characteristics, work context characteristics explained incremental variances of 4 % in job satisfaction and 16 % in stress. The results of this study suggest numerous opportunities for the continued development of work design theory and practice.
The significance of task significance: job performance effects, relational mechanisms, and boundary conditions.
- Journal of Applied Psychology,
, 2008
"... Does task significance increase job performance? Correlational designs and confounded manipulations have prevented researchers from assessing the causal impact of task significance on job performance. To address this gap, 3 field experiments examined the performance effects, relational mechanisms, ..."
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Cited by 61 (18 self)
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Does task significance increase job performance? Correlational designs and confounded manipulations have prevented researchers from assessing the causal impact of task significance on job performance. To address this gap, 3 field experiments examined the performance effects, relational mechanisms, and boundary conditions of task significance. In Experiment 1, fundraising callers who received a task significance intervention increased their levels of job performance relative to callers in 2 other conditions and to their own prior performance. In Experiment 2, task significance increased the job dedication and helping behavior of lifeguards, and these effects were mediated by increases in perceptions of social impact and social worth. In Experiment 3, conscientiousness and prosocial values moderated the effects of task significance on the performance of new fundraising callers. The results provide fresh insights into the effects, relational mechanisms, and boundary conditions of task significance, offering noteworthy implications for theory, research, and practice on job design, social information processing, and work motivation and performance.
Does intrinsic motivation fuel the prosocial fire? Motivational synergy in predicting persistence, performance, and productivity
- Journal of Applied Psychology
, 2008
"... Researchers have obtained conflicting results about the role of prosocial motivation in persistence, performance, and productivity. To resolve this discrepancy, I draw on self-determination theory, proposing that prosocial motivation is most likely to predict these outcomes when it is accompanied by ..."
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Cited by 52 (9 self)
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Researchers have obtained conflicting results about the role of prosocial motivation in persistence, performance, and productivity. To resolve this discrepancy, I draw on self-determination theory, proposing that prosocial motivation is most likely to predict these outcomes when it is accompanied by intrinsic motivation. Two field studies support the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation moderates the association between prosocial motivation and persistence, performance, and productivity. In Study 1, intrinsic motivation strengthened the relationship between prosocial motivation and the overtime hour persistence of 58 firefighters. In Study 2, intrinsic motivation strengthened the relationship between prosocial motivation and the performance and productivity of 140 fundraising callers. Callers who reported high levels of both prosocial and intrinsic motivations raised more money 1 month later, and this moderated association was mediated by a larger number of calls made. I discuss implications for theory and research on work motivation.
Giving commitment: Employee support programs and the prosocial sensemaking process.
- Academy of Management Journal
, 2008
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No margin, no mission? A field experiment on incentives for public service delivery”, forthcoming
- Journal of Public Economics.
, 2014
"... a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o We conduct a field experiment to evaluate the effect of extrinsic rewards, both financial and non-financial, on the performance of agents recruited by a public health organization to promote HIV prevention and sell condoms. In this setting: (i) non-financial re ..."
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Cited by 28 (6 self)
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a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o We conduct a field experiment to evaluate the effect of extrinsic rewards, both financial and non-financial, on the performance of agents recruited by a public health organization to promote HIV prevention and sell condoms. In this setting: (i) non-financial rewards are effective at improving performance; (ii) the effect of both types of rewards is stronger for pro-socially motivated agents; and (iii) both types of rewards are effective when their relative value is high. The findings illustrate that extrinsic rewards can improve the performance of agents engaged in public service delivery, and that non-financial rewards can be effective in settings where the power of financial incentives is limited.
The necessity of others is the mother of invention: intrinsic and prosocial motivations, perspective taking, and creativity
- Academy of Management Journal
, 2011
"... Although many scholars believe that intrinsic motivation fuels creativity, research has returned equivocal results. Drawing on motivated information processing theory, we propose that the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity is enhanced by other-focused psychological processes. P ..."
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Cited by 24 (2 self)
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Although many scholars believe that intrinsic motivation fuels creativity, research has returned equivocal results. Drawing on motivated information processing theory, we propose that the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity is enhanced by other-focused psychological processes. Perspective taking, as generated by proso-cial motivation, encourages employees to develop ideas that are useful as well as novel. In three studies, using both field and lab data, we found that prosocial motiva-tion strengthened the association between intrinsic motivation and independent cre-ativity ratings. In our second and third studies, perspective taking mediated this moderating effect. We discuss theoretical implications for creativity and motivation. As work becomes increasingly dynamic, uncer-tain, and knowledge-based, organizations depend on creative ideas from employees (George, 2007). Scholars and practitioners share a strong interest in understanding the psychological forces that moti-vate creativity—the production of ideas that are
Making things happen: A model of proactive motivation
- Journal of Management
, 2010
"... Being proactive is about making things happen, anticipating and preventing problems, and seiz-ing opportunities. It involves self-initiated efforts to bring about change in the work environment and/or oneself to achieve a different future. The authors develop existing perspectives on this topic by i ..."
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Cited by 23 (1 self)
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Being proactive is about making things happen, anticipating and preventing problems, and seiz-ing opportunities. It involves self-initiated efforts to bring about change in the work environment and/or oneself to achieve a different future. The authors develop existing perspectives on this topic by identifying proactivity as a goal-driven process involving both the setting of a proactive goal (proactive goal generation) and striving to achieve that proactive goal (proactive goal striv-ing). The authors identify a range of proactive goals that individuals can pursue in organizations. These vary on two dimensions: the future they aim to bring about (achieving a better personal fit within one’s work environment, improving the organization’s internal functioning, or enhancing the organization’s strategic fit with its environment) and whether the self or situation is being changed. The authors then identify “can do, ” “reason to, ” and “energized to ” motivational states that prompt proactive goal generation and sustain goal striving. Can do motivation arises from perceptions of self-efficacy, control, and (low) cost. Reason to motivation relates to why someone is proactive, including reasons flowing from intrinsic, integrated, and identified motiva-tion. Energized to motivation refers to activated positive affective states that prompt proactive goal processes. The authors suggest more distal antecedents, including individual differences
The hot and cool of death awareness at work: Mortality cues, aging, and self-protective and prosocial motivations
- Academy of Management Review
, 2009
"... Although death awareness is pervasive in organizations and can have powerful effects on employees ’ experiences and behaviors, scholars have paid little attention to it. We develop a theoretical model of the nature, antecedents, and consequences of death awareness at work. We differentiate death anx ..."
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Cited by 15 (6 self)
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Although death awareness is pervasive in organizations and can have powerful effects on employees ’ experiences and behaviors, scholars have paid little attention to it. We develop a theoretical model of the nature, antecedents, and consequences of death awareness at work. We differentiate death anxiety and reflection as distinct states that strengthen self-protective versus prosocial motivations, examine how mortality cues and aging processes trigger these states, and explore their impact on withdrawal and generative behaviors. The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity—designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny.... Of all things that move man, one of the principal ones is his terror of death (Becker, 1973: ix, 11). The tragedies of September 11 had a dramatic effect on work experiences and behaviors, both for those who were directly involved (Bacharach & Bamberger, 2007) and those who were not (Johns, 2006). For some employees the terrorist attacks resulted in crippling anxiety, leading to stress and absenteeism from work (Byron & Peterson, 2002; Salgado, 2002). For others the at-tacks inspired reflection about death and the meaning of life, motivating remarkable efforts to contribute to other people and society. Organi-zational scholars began to reflect on how they could best serve the public interest through their research and their students through their teach-
Leading with meaning: Beneficiary contact, prosocial impact, and the performance effects of transformational leadership Academy of Management Journal
"... Although transformational leadership is thought to increase followers ’ performance by motivating them to transcend self-interest, rhetoric alone may not be sufficient. I propose that transformational leadership is most effective in motivating followers when they interact with the beneficiaries of t ..."
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Cited by 12 (1 self)
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Although transformational leadership is thought to increase followers ’ performance by motivating them to transcend self-interest, rhetoric alone may not be sufficient. I propose that transformational leadership is most effective in motivating followers when they interact with the beneficiaries of their work, which highlights how the vision has meaningful consequences for other people. In a quasi-experimental study, beneficiary contact strengthened the effects of transformational leadership on call center employees ’ sales and revenue. A survey study with government employees extended these results, supporting a moderated mediation model with perceived prosocial impact. Relational job design can enhance the motivational effects of trans-formational leadership. A fundamental task for leaders is to motivate followers to accomplish great things (Vroom & Jago, 2007). According to theories of transformational and charismatic leadership, leaders achieve this task by engaging in inspirational behaviors such as articulating a compelling vision, emphasizing col-lective identities, expressing confidence and opti-mism, and referencing core values and ideals (Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978; House, 1977; Shamir, House, & Arthur, 1993). Evidence suggests that when leaders engage in these visionary behaviors, followers set more value-congruent goals (Bono & Judge, 2003) and experience their work as more meaningful (Pic-colo & Colquitt, 2006; Purvanova, Bono, & Dziewe-czynski, 2006). As a result, research has shown that on average, transformational leadership correlates positively with followers ’ motivation and job per-formance (Judge & Piccolo, 2004). However, evidence suggests that transforma-tional leadership does not always motivate higher performance among followers. Inconsistent effects of transformational leadership on followers ’ perfor-mance have emerged in field experiments in Cana-dian banks (Barling, Weber, & Kelloway, 1996) and
Giving time, time after time: Work design and sustained employee participation in corporate volunteering
- Academy of Management Review
, 2012
"... Corporate volunteering programs are important channels for expressing care and compassion, but little research has examined when and why employees sustain involvement. Integrating work design and volunteering theories, I introduce a model that explains how depleted task, social, and knowledge charac ..."
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Cited by 8 (0 self)
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Corporate volunteering programs are important channels for expressing care and compassion, but little research has examined when and why employees sustain involvement. Integrating work design and volunteering theories, I introduce a model that explains how depleted task, social, and knowledge characteristics of jobs trigger compensatory motives during initial volunteering episodes. When these motives are fulfilled by volunteering projects, employees repeat participation, internalizing vol-unteer identities—contingent on pressure, matching incentives, recognition, manage-rial support, and targeted causes. Corporate volunteering is an important ve-hicle for delivering care and compassion to causes and communities in need. Over 90 per-cent of Fortune 500 companies run employee volunteering programs, formally sponsoring and subsidizing employees ’ efforts to perform community service and outreach activities on
