An inside story – is self-determination the key? Anders Dysvik Førsteamanuensis Handelshøyskolen BI

1. An inside story – is self-determination the key? Anders Dysvik Førsteamanuensis Handelshøyskolen BI

2. Anders Dysvik • Førsteamanuensis, PhD, i organisasjonspsykologi ved Handelshøyskolen BI • En rekke internasjonale publikasjoner innenfor HRM • Reviewer for flere internasjonale tidskrifter • Krigsskole, operativ linje fra Luftforsvaret • 10 års ledererfaring og opptatt av HR i praksis • Mye brukt som foredragsholder og rådgiver for offentlige og private virksomheter

3. Why work motivation? • Work motivation theories differ in operationalization and scope and exist in numerous forms. • But share the quest for explaining how employees are energized towards learning, performing and well-being at work (Sheldon, Turban, Brown, Barrick, & Judge, 2003). • Could we gain from integrating work motivation theories? • Theories acknowledging the interplay between individuals and their work environment is well suited for integration into a more coherent and practically relevant whole (e.g. Kanfer, 2009).

4. Self-determination theory • Recognizes the interplay between individuals and the work environment. • Motivation depends on individual perceptions • Autonomous versus controlled motivation. • Intrinsic motivation: autonomous motivation in its purest form • the motivation to perform an activity for itself in order to experience the pleasure and satisfaction inherent in the activity (Deci, Connell, & Ryan, 1989)

5. Perceived training opportunities, turnover intention and work performance • Perceived investment in employee development and work performance Intrinsic motivation Perceived job autonomy and work performance Achievement goals and work performance

6. Dysvik, A., & Kuvaas, B. (2008). The relationship between perceived training opportunities, work motivation and employee outcomes. International Journal of Training and Development, 12, 138-157 Selected for Best Paper Proceedings at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Anaheim, CA

7. Perceived training opportunities and intrinsic motivation • Training is a potent tool for knowledge and skill acquirement (e.g. Arthur et al., 2003) and related to organizational performance (Tharenou et al., 2007). • Training may also facilitate prosocial motivation (Shore et al., 2006). • High levels of perceived training opportunities (PTO) should also facilitate intrinsic motivation when employees • Are encouraged to seek challenges optimal for their capacities and to attempt persistently maintenance of skills • Perceive the training opportunities to be high • Perceive a supportive work environment in terms of the provision of training opportunities • Findings: • PTO positively related to intrinsic motivation • The relationship between PTO and facets of self-reported work performance and turnover intention fully or partially mediated by intrinsic motivation

8. Kuvaas, B., & Dysvik, A. (2009). Perceived investment in employee development, intrinsic motivation and work performance. Human Resource Management Journal, 19, 217-236 Presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Chicago, IL

9. Perceived investment in employee development and intrinsic motivation • Perceived investment in employee development (PIED) an antecedent for prosocial motivation. • According to social exchange theory, it should also relate positively to work performance. • More to this relationship than mere reciprocation? • Findings • Intrinsic motivation fully mediated the relationship between PIED and self-reported work effort across three samples • Intrinsic motivation moderated the relationship between PIED and self-reported OCB across three samples

10. Antecedents for prosocial motivation and intrinsic motivation • There is more to prosocial motivation than ”a felt obligation to reciprocate”, and intrinsic motivation seems to be the key. • Combined, social exchange theory and SDT provide a more thorough explanation than they do separately. • The consequent moderation for OCB suggest that employees high in intrinsic motivation respond more broadly in response to PIED, in acting as ”missionaries” • Similar findings with respect to perceived training opportunities (PTO) (Dysvik & Kuvaas, 2008) • PIED (and prosocial motivation in general) less relevant for explaining elevated levels of work quality from a static perspective.

11. Dysvik, A., & Kuvaas, B. (Submitted, under review). Meeting the standard, liking for the task, or both? The integral role of achievement goals and intrinsic motivation as predictors of in-role and contextual performance

12. Achievement goals and intrinsic motivation • Achievement goal theory (AGT) and SDT emphasize individual competence and autonomy perceptions as important for predicting individual performance (Elliot, 2005; Gagné & Deci, 2005). • Learned preference versus situational perceptions • Increased understanding of how these motivational sources relate to work performance may be gained by integrating them. • Dynamic process that evolve over time, yet lack of longitudinal studies for both theories. • Main finding: • Intrinsic motivation partially mediates the relationship between mastery-approach goals (T1) and self-reported in-role and contextual performance (T2)

13. Dysvik, A., & Kuvaas, B. (In press). Intrinsic motivation as a moderator on the relationship between perceived job autonomy and work performance. Accepted for publication in European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology

14. Perceived job autonomy and intrinsic motivation • Perceived job autonomy (PJA) a salient predictor for a range of positive outcomes, including work performance (e.g. Humphrey et al., 2007), and current motivational models suggest PJA facilitate intrinsic motivation (Hackman & Oldham, 1976; Gagné & Deci, 2005). • Could intrinsic motivation moderate the relationship between PJA and work performance with respect to actually seizing opportunities provided by job autonomy? • Main finding: • A more positive relationship between PJA and both self-reported and line manager rated work quality for employees higher in intrinsic motivation

15. Intrinsic motivation seems to be the key • Adds explanatory power to theories of prosocial motivation and achievement goals. • Remains a robust predictor of relevant work outcomes (i.e. work performance and turnover intention) in 9 different study samples among more than 2900 employees. • Novel observations on the relationships between autonomy, intrinsic motivation and performance.

16. Selected references • Deci, E. L., Connell, J. P., & Ryan, R. M. (1989). Self-determination in a work organization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 580-590 • Elliot, A. J. (2005). A conceptual history of the achievement goal constructs. In A. J. Elliot & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 52-72). New York: The Guilford Press. • Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 331-362 • Humphrey, S. E., Nahrgang, J. D., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). Integrating motivational, social and contextual work design features: A meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 1332-1356 • Kanfer, R. (2009). Work motivation: Identifying use-inspired research directions. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2, 77-93 • Sheldon, K. M., Turban, D. B., Brown, K. G., Barrick, M. R., & Judge, T. A. (2003). Applying self-determination theory to organizational research. In J. J. Martocchio & G. R. Ferris (Eds.), Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management (Vol. 22, pp. 357-393): Elsevier. • Shore, L. M., Tetrick, L. E., Lynch, P., & Barksdale, K. (2006). Social and economic exchange: Construct development and validation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 837-867