Summary Motivation, Power and Leadership
Week 1
1. Gagne & Deci - Self-determination theory and work motivation
Intrinsic motivation= people doing an activity because they find it interesting and derive
spontaneous satisfaction from the activity itself.
Extrinsic motivation = requires an instrumentality between the activity and some separable
consequences such as tangible or verbal rewards satisfaction comes not from the activity itself
but from the extrinsic consequences to which the activity leads
Cognitive evaluation theory
Cognitive evaluation theory suggested that external factors (i.e. tangible rewards, deadlines,
surveillance and evaluations) tend to diminish feelings of autonomy, prompt a change in
perceived locus of causality from internal to external and undermine intrinsic motivation.
Factors that promote feelings of competence (positive feedback) and of autonomy (providing
choice) are important for intrinsic motivation factors that diminish these feelings undermine
intrinsic (and extrinsic) motivation, leaving people amotivated
Tangible extrinsic rewards do no undermine extrinsic motivation when the rewards were given
independent of a specific task (salary) or when the rewards were not anticipated (unexpected
bonus)
Self-determination theory
Autonomy continuum: distinction between autonomous and controlled motivation
- Autonomy: acting with a sense of volition and having the experience of choice (e.g. intrinsic
motivation). People engage an activity because they find it interesting and they are doing
the activity wholly volitionally
- Controlled: acting with a sense of pressure, a sense of having to engage in the actions
extrinsic rewards induce controlled motivation
Autonomous and controlled motivation are both intentional, and together they stand in contrast
to amotivation
Intrinsic motivation is autonomous, however SDT has the proposition that extrinsic motivation
can vary in the degree to which it is autonomous versus controlled
- The more the continuum goes to autonomous, the more internalized it gets
- Internalization: people taking in values, attitudes or regulatory structures, such that the
external regulation of a behavior is transformed into an internal regulation and thus no
longer requires the presence of an external contingency
Four types of extrinsic motivation:
1. Externally regulation: initiated and maintained by contingencies external to the person.
People act with the intention of obtaining a desired consequence or avoiding an undesired
one controlled
2. Introjected regulation: a regulation that has been taken in by the person but has not been
accepted as his or her own, it is as if the regulation were controlling the person. Examples
include contingent self-esteem (e.g. feel worthy and ego involvement)
3. Identified regulation: people feel greater freedom and volition because the behavior is more
congruent with their personal goals and identities
4. Integrated regulation: people have a full sense that the behavior is an integral part of who
they are, that it emanates from their sense of self and is thus self-determined. It involves the
integration of an identification with other aspects of oneself (with other identifications,
interests and values) autonomous
, - Shares some qualities with intrinsic motivation, but it is not the same because the
motivation is characterized not by the person being interested in the activity, but rather
by the activity being instrumentally important for personal goals
SDT proposes that, under optimal conditions, people can, at any time, fully integrate a new
regulation, or can integrate an existing regulation that had been only partially internalized
Basic psychological needs:
Satisfaction of competence, autonomy and the need for relatedness are necessary for internalization
satisfaction of the needs to be connected to others and to be effective in the social world support
people’s tendency to internalize the values and regulatory processes that are ambient in their world
Work climates that promote satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs will enhance
employees’ intrinsic motivation and promote full internalization of extrinsic motivation and thus will
yield the important work outcomes of: persistence and maintained behavior change, effective
performance, job satisfaction, positive work-related attitudes, organizational citizen behaviors and
psychological adjustment and well-being
Social contexts and internalization:
Autonomy support is the most important social-contextual factor for predicting identification
and integration, and thus autonomous behavior
For greater internalization, three factors are needed: a meaningful rationale for doing the task,
acknowledgement that people might not find the activity interesting, and an emphasis on choice
rather than control let to more internalization of extrinsic motivation and ensured that the
internalization was more integrated rather than introjected.
There is similarity between the social-contextual factors that maintain intrinsic motivation and those
that facilitate integration of extrinsic motivation, but there are two differences:
1. People do not necessarily require structures, limits or contingencies to maintain intrinsic
motivation, but these are essential elements for internalization
2. Internalization is facilitated by explicit or implicit endorsement of behaviors by significant
others, whereas that is less important for maintaining intrinsic motivation
,Individual differences in people’s orientations towards the initiation and regulation of their behavior:
1. Autonomy oriented: a general tendency to experience social contexts as autonomy
supportive and to be self-determined positively related to self-actualization, self-esteem,
ego development etc.
2. Control oriented: a general tendency to experience social contexts as controlling and to be
controlled related to public self-consciousness, type A behavior pattern, placing high
importance on pay and other extrinsic motivations etc.
3. Impersonally oriented: the general tendency to be amotivated related to external locus of
control and depression
SDT research in organizations
Studies in organizations have provided support for propositions that autonomy-supportive work
environments (rather than controlling) and managerial methods promote basic need satisfaction,
intrinsic motivation and full internalization of extrinsic motivation and that these in turn lead to
persistence, effective performance, job satisfaction, positive work attitudes, organizational
commitment and psychological well-being.
Autonomous motivation is superior in situations that include both complex tasks that are interesting
and less complex tasks that require discipline autonomous motivation is preferable in
organizations
Relation of SDT to other organizational behavior research questions
Autonomous motivation promotes volunteering and other prosocial behaviors (e.g. pro-
environmental behavior) and organizational citizenship.
Aspects of jobs, such as complexity and importance, and conditions that promote autonomous
motivation, lead employees to be relatively autonomously motivated for their jobs result in
doing their jobs well and experiencing a high level of job satisfaction
Conditions that promote controlled motivation yield less effective overall performance
(especially heuristic tasks) and the quality of the performance is expected to be unrelated to job
satisfaction
2: Parks, Joireman & Van Lange - Cooperation, trust, and antagonism
, Classical theories of rational choice argue that it is personally better not take part in the
collective effort to supply or maintain the good, that one does better for oneself by letting
others do the work and then taking advantage of their labors
Because every group member is presented with the same temptation to free ride, the rationalist
argument predicts that public goods will never be provided
Two broad classes of collective goods:
1. Public goods: entity that requires individuals to contribute some type of capital (money,
time, effort) toward its existence. Once enough capital has accumulated, the good comes
into existence, and everyone, contributors and noncontributors, may use it (e.g. charity)
2. Common-pool resources: resource begins at full provision, and all group members have free
access to sample it at either a restricted or unrestricted rate. The sampling reduces the size
of the pool, and the pool may or may not be replenished
They share two features: members of the group must contribute something toward the provision
and all group members may use the entity (regardless of whether one assisted with its maintenance)
1) Public goods
There are many examples of public goods: public broadcasting (financial contributions create
programming for all), public works, clean air (toward which people contribute by reducing
production of air pollutants) and nature preserves (through donation of land)
Public goods present the problem that one has to give now toward something that cannot be
used until later, when the good is not provided, one cannot have the contribution returned
Regardless of what happens with the good, the better personal outcome is realized by
withholding contribution. However, giving and having the good provided is associated with a
better outcome than not giving and failing to provide the good is a key element that has to be
overcome in trying to win support for the public good
Public goods are sometimes referred to as social fences, because the hurdle of giving must be
cleared before the benefits can be experienced
Public goods can be structured in two ways:
1. Discrete public good: one for which a minimum accumulation of capital must be met, at
which point the good is provided in its entirety (e.g. it makes no sense to build half a bridge)
2. Continuous public good: the greater accumulation of capital, the richer the good can be (e.g.
a public television that receives less than the targeted amount of donation can still
broadcast, but it will not be able to present the expensive shows)
2) Common-pool resources
The dilemma of a common-pool resource is that if each person consistently take as much as he
or she can, the resource will decline more quickly than the replenishment mechanism can refill
it, and eventually the resource will be exhausted
The collectively best behavior is to take less than a maximal amount and to yoke one’s sampling
to the replenishment rate, taking more when replenishment is high and less when it is low
The psychological dynamics differ from public goods: one does not have to worry about putting
something into the endeavour only to receive nothing in return (the good is here and available
now). You can take what you want, possibly within limits, but almost certainly you will be able to
receive an acceptable portion of the entity
Common-pool resources are sometimes referred to as social traps, because at the start they
seem simple to manage, but it is only over time that the problem reveals itself
Resource users are ultimately going to make assumptions and inferences about what others
believe and what they are doing, since complete interaction is impossible (same for PG)
