| Abstract: | Examined the impact of an extrinsic reward provided by employers (educational subsidies) on the task interest of employees who varied in their reasons for attending an evening master of business administration (MBA) program (expressive and instrumental orientations) and their beliefs about the reward (norms for payment). Results from 132 employed MBA students (mean age 29.2 yrs) show that the sufficiency of justification effects hypothesized varied depending on Ss' orientation toward the activity and beliefs about the reward. Providing an educational subsidy was associated with lowered task interest for those who were expressively oriented but was associated with higher task interest for Ss who were not expressively oriented. Failure to provide an extrinsic reward was related to decreased task interest for those who believed the subsidy was a normal employee benefit but was related to increased interest for those who did not. Findings are consistent with laboratory investigations and suggest the importance of the sufficiency of justification research for organizational reward systems. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
