The role of personal work goals in newcomers' job satisfaction and organizational commitment: A longitudinal analysis.

This study examined the importance of 3 characteristics of personal work goals (i.e., commitment, attainability, and progress) in accounting for changes in newcomers' affective job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational commitment) during the 1st months of employment. Twenty weeks after organizational entry, 81 newcomers provided a list of their personal work goals. Goal attributes and job attitudes were assessed at 3 testing periods covering 8 months. Goal commitment was found to moderate the extent to which differences in the attainability of personal goals at the workplace accounted for changes in job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Goal progress mediated the interactive effect of goal commitment and attainability on newcomers' job attitudes. Findings are discussed with respect to their relevance for proactive approaches to organizational socialization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention soutenue et motivation : une approche chronopsychologique.

Discusses the effects of motivation on ability to sustain attention. We emphasize the fact that motivation should be considered a masking factor in ultradian rhythmicities of cognitive efficiency. In the first part of this article, several studies are listed. These studies attempted to show behavioral fluctuations when sustained attention is required. The inconsistency of the results brought forth by such studies is pointed out. In the second part of the article, the question of the status granted to motivation in chronopsychological studies, where motivation is manipulated in several ways, is discussed. Interpretations are revisited in terms of intrinsic and/or extrinsic motivation concepts. Some of these chronopsychological studies used only extrinsic motivation whereas others created conditions in which intrinsic motivation was favoured (for example, knowledge of results, which appears to be a prominent masking factor). Finally, we propose several hypotheses in order to support the assumption of a stabilizing effect provided by intrinsic motivation. We conclude by insisting upon the necessity of involving participants in tasks requiring complex cognitive activity, which contrasts with the monotonous and too simple tasks used frequently in chronopsychological studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Underlying sources of job satisfaction.

Recent theories of job satisfaction generally assume 2 underlying types of job elements important to employee satisfaction: those in the work process which allow for self-actualization, and environmental elements in which the worker's rewards are physical and monetary. A parallel assumption pertains to the 2 types of employees for whom each of these is important. A validation of such constructs was attempted through factor analysis and indicated 3 underlying groups of job elements important to job satisfaction: social and technical environment, intrinsic work aspects, and recognition through advancement. The factor of greatest import to each employee was identified, and factored groups of employees were described in terms of their differing age, salary, and occupational patterns. No significant differences in overall job satisfaction among the 3 groups were found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation as predictors of reading literacy: A longitudinal study.

The purpose in this study was to examine the longitudinal relationships of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation with reading literacy development. In particular, the authors (a) investigated reading amount as mediator between motivation and reading literacy and (b) probed for bidirectional relationships between reading motivation and reading literacy, controlling for previous reading literacy. A total of 740 students participated in a longitudinal assessment starting in Grade 3, with further points of measurement in Grades 4 and 6. Structural equation models with latent variables showed that the relationship between intrinsic reading motivation and later reading literacy was mediated by reading amount but not when previous reading literacy was included in the model. A bidirectional relationship was found between extrinsic reading motivation and reading literacy: Grade 3 reading literacy negatively predicted extrinsic reading motivation in Grade 4, which in turn negatively predicted reading literacy in Grade 6. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of performance antecedents and consequences in work motivation: Correction to Komaki, Collins, and Penn.

Reports an error in the original article by Judith L. Komaki, Robert L. Collins, and Pat Penn (Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 67, No. 3, pp. 334-340). An incorrect version of Figure 1 was printed. The correct version is provided. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1982-26864-001.) Assessed the effects of both antecedents and consequences while keeping supervisory involvement and stimulus changes constant. The safety performance of 200 employees in 4 departments of a processing plant was monitored 3 times/wk over 46 wks. A multiple baseline design was used in which the phases were introduced in steps. Following baseline, the antecedent condition was presented, in which safety rules were explained and safety meetings held, along with frequent supervisor interaction and stimulus changes. Then the performance consequence, feedback, in which a feedback graph was maintained and feedback meetings held, was added. The antecedent condition, even when bolstered by fairly extensive supervisor involvement, resulted in improvements in only 2 out of 4 departments. Only during the consequent condition did performance significantly improve in all departments over baseline and antecedent conditions. Furthermore, employees reported that they preferred obtaining information following their performance. The results confirm that performance consequences such as feedback play a critical role in work motivation and that antecedents alone may not be effective in all cases, even with fairly extensive supervisor involvement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive aspects of motivation in repetitive work: effects of lot size upon spacing of voluntary work stoppages.

The hypothesis that the size of a lot or batch in a repetitive light task exerts a differential "traction" on the worker (urges the worker to complete the task) was tested on two machine operations. Workers were observed while working on large, medium-size, and small batches. The number of voluntary work stoppages per observation period decreased consistently with the size of the batch, and the number of minutes elapsed between stoppages increased. Small batches were not preferred, however, and no changes in production occurred. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dispositions and work reactions: A multilevel approach.

Multiple levels of analysis were used to examine the link between stable dispositions and more state-oriented work reactions such as job satisfaction. Participants in the study were employees from a large state education system and an urban hospital. The proportion of between-group variance in positive work affect, negative work affect, and job satisfaction increased after dispositional measures of neuroticism and extraversion were included, although the confidence intervals overlapped. Aggregate perceptions of excessive job demands explained more between-group variance in work reactions after dispositions were included. Previous research conducted at a single level of analysis suggests that the inclusion of stable dispositions can attenuate the link between work characteristics and work reactions. The present study suggests the opposite pattern when group-level variance is considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Développement d'une échelle de satisfaction des besoins fondamentaux en contexte sportif.

The purpose of the present three studies was to develop and validate a questionnaire designed to measure perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness in the sport context. Deci and Ryan (1985) postulate that the intrinsic motivated behaviour is associated with the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Exploratory (Study 1) and confirmatory analyses (Study 2) were conducted amongst French athletes. These studies demonstrated an acceptable internal consistency and confirmed the three-factor structure of the questionnaire. In addition, the construct validity of the scale was also corroborated in Study 3 where perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness were found to predict the different types of sport motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Management of work and personal life: Problems and opportunities.

Review of Management of work and personal life: Problems and opportunities edited by Mary Dean Lee and Rabindra N. Kanungo (1984). This book is a selected "proceedings" of a conference on the work-non-work relationships hosted by McGill University in 1983. The fundamental objective of the conference (and hence this book) was to provide a critical overvue of the research on the management and co-ordination of the different life spheres of the individual and to stimulate new ideas at the conceptual, methodological, and or practical level. From a practical point of view, even though most of us recognize that we are living in a changing world, we know very little about what to do about it. Most of the chapters do try to address this practical issue but the vast majority of suggestions are speculative. Again the lack of data is an overwhelming barrier. Overall, however, this is a good book which is recommended to anyone wishing to conduct research in the area. It may also serve as a basic text in graduate courses on the management of work and personal lives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interrelationships among measures of job satisfaction and general satisfaction.

For a sample of 41 male and 52 female civil service employees, correlations were determined among 2 measures of job satisfaction (SRA Employee Inventory and Brayfield-Rothe Job Satisfaction Index) and 2 measures of attitudes toward life in general (Weitz General Satisfaction Test and Rundquist-Sletto Morale Scale). All the intercorrelations were moderately positive and significant for the males, but only the intercorrelation between the two general satisfaction measures was significant for the females. 15 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Substance use by college students: The role of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation for athletic involvement.

Certain types of athletic involvement may confer risk for substance use by college students. This study investigated whether motivational factors play a role in the relationship between athletic involvement and substance use. Intercollegiate athletes (n=98) and exercisers (n=120) were surveyed about substance use and motivation for athletic involvement. Athletes and exercisers who were extrinsically motivated had significantly higher rates of alcohol use than their intrinsically motivated counterparts. Results suggest that college students who are extrinsically motivated for involvement in physical activity/athletics--particularly those involved in team sports--may be in need of targeted prevention efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of work habits in the motivation of food safety behaviors.

The authors considered work habits within an integrated framework of motivated behavior. A distinction made between automatic and controlled action led to 2 measures of work habits: a habit strength measure reflecting the 4 characteristics of automaticity and a measure of work routines under conscious control. Workers at a turkey processing plant (N = 162) responded to an extensive survey of these work habits measures with regard to food safety. Results indicated that attitudes and subjective norms predicted food safety intentions. These intentions, along with perceived behavior control and work habits, predicted reports of food safety behaviors. A mediation analysis indicated that the work routines measure accounted for the variance in self-reported behavior and mediated any effect of the habit strength measure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes: A meta-analysis of research findings.

A meta-analysis of 41 studies examined the effect of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes in a variety of settings with both child and adult samples. Results indicated that providing choice enhanced intrinsic motivation, effort, task performance, and perceived competence, among other outcomes. Moderator tests revealed the effect of choice on intrinsic motivation was stronger (a) for instructionally irrelevant choices compared to choices made between activities, versions of a task, rewards, and instructionally relevant options, (b) when 2 to 4 successive choices were given, (c) when rewards were not given after the choice manipulation, (d) when participants given choice were compared to the most controlling forms of control groups, (e) for children compared to adults, (f) for designs that yoked choice and control conditions compared to matched designs in which choice was reduced or designs in which nonyoked, nonmatched controls were used, and (g) when the experiment was conducted in a laboratory embedded in a natural setting. Implications for future research and applications to real-world settings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The moderating effects of personal reputation on accountability-strain relationships.

Although felt accountability has predicted positive outcomes in some studies, it has demonstrated anxiety-provoking properties in others. This inconsistency has led researchers to search for moderating variables that explain why felt accountability promotes or impedes favorable outcomes. Building on these studies, the authors examine the moderating effects of personal reputation on the felt accountability-strain relationship. As hypothesized, the results indicate that a positive personal reputation ameliorated the strain reactions caused by felt accountability. In particular, as felt accountability increased, individuals with strong personal reputations experienced less job tension and depressed mood at work, as well as more job satisfaction, but individuals with weak personal reputations experienced the opposite outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

High-quality work, job satisfaction, and occupational injuries.

The authors investigated whether and how 1 element of a high-performance work system, namely high-quality jobs (composed of extensive training, variety, and autonomy), affects occupational injuries. On the basis of data from the Australian WIRS95 database (N = 16,466; Department of Workplace Relations and Small Business, 1997), high-quality jobs exerted a direct effect on injuries and an indirect effect through the mediating influence of job satisfaction. Conceptual, methodological, and practical issues are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disentangling the indirect links between socioeconomic status and health: The dynamic roles of work stressors and personal control.

Prior research has documented an indirect link between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, and the goal in this study was to help unravel this phenomenon from a dynamic perspective. The authors hypothesized that SES would be positively related to feelings of personal control and negatively related to perceived work stressors. Drawing on dynamic conceptualizations of these psychosocial factors, they suggest that these psychosocial factors relate to one another over time. Individuals who have higher levels of personal control experience increasingly fewer work stressors over time than do those with lower levels of personal control, and those who experience greater work stressors increasingly perceive less personal control over time than do those with fewer work stressors. Finally, the authors argue that trajectories of personal control and work stressors are associated with the accumulation of health problems over the same period. Their model was tested with 3-wave data (over 4 years) from a nationally representative sample of Canadian employees (N = 3,419). Latent curve modeling provides support for the proposed dynamic model. Conceptual and practical implications are drawn, and suggestions for future research are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design features: A meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature.

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. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social networks, personal values, and creativity: Evidence for curvilinear and interaction effects.

Taking an interactional perspective on creativity, the authors examined the influence of social networks and conformity value on employees’ creativity. They theorized and found a curvilinear relationship between number of weak ties and creativity such that employees exhibited greater creativity when their number of weak ties was at intermediate levels rather than at lower or higher levels. In addition, employees’ conformity value moderated the curvilinear relationship between number of weak ties and creativity such that employees exhibited greater creativity at intermediate levels of number of weak ties when conformity was low than when it was high. A proper match between personal values and network ties is critical for understanding creativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bringing work home: The emotional experiences of mothers and fathers.

Given the salience of work in our society, this study investigated how intrinsic work motivation, work hours, and taking time for self influenced the interplay between the emotional climates of work and home. The authors examined day-to-day emotional transmission between work and home (spillover) for 143 families using the experience sampling method and interview data from the Sloan Center's 500 Family Study (L. J. Waite & B. Schneider, 1997). Intrinsic work motivation, work hours, and taking time for self were used as predictors of spillover. There was evidence of emotional transmission from work to home for mothers' happiness, anger, and anxiety as well as for father's anxiety. Also, fathers scoring higher on intrinsic work motivation tended to report greater overall anxiety at home after the workday. Anxiety from work was less likely to spill over to the home when fathers reported working longer hours. These findings have practice implications for improving worker productivity and the well-being of two-working-parent families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)