Money talks? The motivational mechanisms of base pay on well-being and work performance.

Whether compensation serves as a motivational resource for employees is still a debated subject. It has been suggested that the effect of pay on motivation could be contingent on the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs as outlined by self-determination theory. The current research explored the role of amount of base pay as well as pay fairness discrepancy in relation to basic psychological need satisfaction, autonomous work motivation and, in turn, psychological well-being (i.e., vigor and emotional exhaustion), turnover intentions, and work performance. Managerial need support was also included in the model, so its mechanisms and its effects on the outcomes could be measured against those of pay. Using a combination of archival data and employees' self-reports from 593 Norwegian workers, results revealed that amount of base pay did not predict satisfaction of any of the basic needs, pay fairness discrepancy negatively predicted satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and relatedness and positively predicted satisfaction of the need for competence, whereas managerial need support significantly predicted satisfaction of all three needs. While there was no significant direct relation from amount of base pay to any of the outcomes, results showed a significant direct relation from managerial need support to psychological well-being (positive to vigor and negative to emotional exhaustion) and turnover intentions (negative). There was also a significant direct positive relation from pay fairness discrepancy to turnover intentions.

Will They Stay or Will They Go? Motivational Profiles, Retirement-Related Correlates, and Retirement Intentions Among 58-72-Year-Old Workers.

Demographic changes indicate that the number of people aged 60 years and above will double in the next 30 years, and politicians around the world have an interest in delaying retirement in order to benefit national economies by lowering the burden on public pension systems. In this study, it is examined whether and how combinations of multiple types of work motivation based on self-determination theory (SDT) would be associated with retirement-related factors and retirement intentions. Using a person-centered approach to identify latent work motivation profiles among older workers, four profiles emerged: (1) the Low Motivation Profile with below-average levels on most motivational regulations, but in particular, lack identified work regulation; (2) the Autonomous Motivation Profile with higher levels of autonomous motivation and lower levels of controlled motivation and amotivation; (3) the High Motivation Profile with simultaneously high autonomous and controlled motivation; (4) the Amotivated Profile. Compared to the Low Motivation and Amotivated Profiles, the Autonomous and the High Motivation profiles show higher levels of vigor and lower levels of job stress, exhaustion and turnover-, and retirement intentions. However, the High Motivation Profile seems to pay a cost because they experience significantly more job stress than employees in the Autonomous profile. In addition, variable-based correlations showed higher levels of vigor and lower levels of job stress, exhaustion, and turnover intentions to be associated with lower levels of retirement intentions. The results are discussed in relation to managers and organizational endeavors to rebuild lost work identification and reduce extrinsic work motivation and amotivation in order to motivate older workers to stay longer at work.

Losing sleep over work: A self-determination theory view on need frustration, sleep disturbance, and mental ill health.

Given the centrality of sleep and work in most individuals' lives, it is interesting to note that an empirical understanding of the association between what happens in the workplace and how well people sleep is in an early stage of development, at least relative to other topics that are of interest in the literature on stress and health. Using self-determination theory, the current study examined how maladaptive motivational processes at work relate to sleep disturbance and mental ill health. In line with hypotheses, the results of a cross-sectional analysis and analyses using data from two time points over 15 months revealed that employees are more likely to report sleep disturbance, anxiety, and depressive symptoms when they experience frustration of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the workplace. Additional results revealed an indirect effect of change in basic psychological need frustration on change in anxiety-but not on change in depressive symptoms-through change in sleep disturbance. Taken together, these findings add to the burgeoning literature on the maladaptive motivational origins of ill health and dysfunction in the workplace.

Dental hygienists' biopsychosocial beliefs and giving autonomy support in treatment of patients: A self-determination theory perspective.

OBJECTIVES: Self-determination theory posits that managers' autonomy-supportive behaviour and employees' autonomy causality orientation are motivation constructs to explain internalization of values, functioning and wellness at work. Hypothesis 1 tested whether profiles comprising perceived dental clinic managers' autonomy-supportive, as opposed to their controlling interpersonal style, and dental hygienists' autonomy, as opposed to their control and impersonal, causality orientations at baseline, would be positively related to dental hygienists' biopsychosocial (BPS) beliefs and giving autonomy support in treatment of patients after 18 months. Hypothesis 2 tested whether dental hygienists' BPS beliefs in treatment of patients will be positively associated with their autonomy-supportive behaviour given to patients after 18 months. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective cohort design with 299 (Mage  = 42.71; SDage  = 12.62) dental hygienists completed an online survey at baseline and after 18 months. RESULTS: Latent profile and correlational analyses supported the hypotheses. Effect sizes were moderate to large. CONCLUSIONS: Both perceived managerial styles and dental hygienists' causality orientations are important for dental hygienists' BPS beliefs and autonomy-supportive behaviours when working with dental patients.

Motivational Mechanisms Underlying Physicians' Occupational Health: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective.

Numerous studies have documented deteriorating occupational health among practicing physicians. This trend poses a serious risk not only for physicians but also for the many patients under their care. Past research finds that one protective factor involves the quality of physicians' motivation. When physicians are more autonomously motivated, they tend to experience better occupational health. However, few studies have identified antecedent factors that support physicians' autonomous work motivation. To identify and model potential root causes of physicians' autonomous work motivation and occupational health, the current study assessed physicians' intrinsic aspirations and need satisfaction at work. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 2,116 U.S. practicing physicians. Structural equation modeling showed that physicians who endorsed intrinsic aspirations more strongly reported better occupational health, and that this association was mediated by physicians' need satisfaction and autonomous work motivation. Implications for designing more effective individual- and system-level interventions to improve physician occupational health are discussed.

The basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration scale at work: A validation in the Polish language.

The aim of this research project was to validate the work-related version of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS) into the Polish language and culture. Although studies have demonstrated the benefits associated with basic psychological need satisfaction and the costs associated with need frustration at work, the concept of needs has been neglected both in Polish scientific research and in practical organizational studies. The adaptation of the BPNSFS-Work Domain may change this situation and stimulate research in the Polish community. The scale has been validated in a sample consisting of three occupational groups: healthcare workers, education staff and customer service workers (N = 1315, Mage = 43.8). The findings suggest that the Polish scale has robust psychometric features. The CFA analysis proves that the scale has a six-dimensional structure similar to the original scale. These dimensions show satisfactory to high Cronbach's α and McDonalds ω reliability, and high criterion validity is shown by association of the six need dimensions with correlates of both positive (i.e., engagement, job crafting and self-efficacy) and negative aspects of work (i.e., burnout and stress). The structure of the scale is the same in all three occupational groups, although the regression weights and covariances are only partially invariant. The validated version of the BPNSFS-Work Domain can be used in future basic and applied studies in the paradigm of self-determination theory.

Worksite physical activity intervention and somatic symptoms burden: The role of coworker support for basic psychological needs and autonomous motivation.

Suffering from somatic symptoms can seriously hamper one's quality of life and ability to function, causing lost work productivity, sickness absence, and extensive medical utilization. Physical activity (PA) has demonstrated promising results related to mild to moderate cases of somatic symptoms. The present study explored whether a worksite health promotion intervention was able to increase PA and cardiorespiratory fitness, and to reduce somatic symptoms and sickness absence. The intervention was designed based on the tenets of Self-determination theory. A pre-post cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with 202 industrial workers in a Norwegian logistics company. Results from repeated measures, multivariate analysis of variance, revealed an overall intervention effect and significant change between groups related to somatic symptoms in favor of the intervention group, albeit no significant change in sickness absence. We applied structural equations modeling to test a model of health behavioral change, which posited that increased support for PA from coworkers and autonomous motivation for PA predicted changes in PA, cardiorespiratory fitness, and somatic symptoms. The results underline the effectiveness of including coworker social support in health promotion programs aimed to increase PA and reduce somatic symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Motivational Mechanisms in the Relation between Job Characteristics and Employee Functioning.

This study investigates the job demands-resources (JD-R) model in relation to work motivation in a self-determination theory (SDT) perspective, with the purpose of developing a model where social-contextual factors are seen in relation to psychological needs in order to explain autonomous work motivation and, in turn, self-reported work performance and somatic symptom burden. SEM-analyses of cross-sectional survey data including 405 waiters/waitresses in Norway were conducted to evaluate the hypothesized model. Results indicate that different job resources have different relations to psychological need satisfaction, and that certain types of job demands (i.e., job challenges) actually may enhance satisfaction of specific psychological needs. In particular, task autonomy had a positive relation to autonomy satisfaction (p < .001) and to competence satisfaction (p < .05), positive feedback had a positive relation to autonomy-, competence-, and relatedness satisfaction (p < .001), and workload had a positive relation to competence satisfaction (p < .001). Furthermore, psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness positively related to autonomous work motivation and, in turn, positively to work performance and negatively to somatic symptom burden (p < .001). Indirect relations were also detected between the job characteristics and autonomous work motivation and between the basic needs and work performance (p < .05). Hence, when explaining autonomous work motivation and work outcomes, it is important to distinguish between different job demands and job resources, as well as among the three psychological needs.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place: the work situation for nurses as leaders in municipal health care.

BACKGROUND: The paper aims to present how nursing leaders in the municipal health care perceive the interaction with and support from their superiors and peers. The paper further aims to identify the leaders' vulnerability and strength at work in the current situation of shortage of manpower and other resources in the health care sector. This is seen through the lens of self-determination theory. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were conducted with nine nursing leaders in nursing homes and home-care services, which, in part, capture the municipal health care service in a time of reform. RESULTS: The nursing leaders are highly independent regarding their role as leaders. They act with strength and power in their position as superiors for their own staff, but they lack support and feel left alone by their leader, the municipal health director. The relation between the nursing leaders and their superiors is characterized by controlling structures and lack of autonomy support. As a consequence, the nursing leaders' relations with subordinates and particularly peers, contribute to satisfy their needs for competence and relatedness, and, to some extent, autonomy. However, this cannot substitute for the lack of support from the superior level. CONCLUSION: The paper maintains a need to increase the consciousness of the value of horizontal support and interaction with peers and subordinates for the municipal nursing leader. Also, the need for increased focus on "the missing link" upward between the municipal health director and the nursing leader is revealed. The impact of extensive controlling structures and lack of autonomy support from superiors might lead to reduced motivation and well-being.

Show them the money? The role of pay, managerial need support, and justice in a self-determination theory model of intrinsic work motivation.

The link between money and motivation has been a debated topic for decades, especially in work organizations. However, field studies investigating the amount of pay in relation to employee motivation is lacking and there have been calls for empirical studies addressing compensation systems and motivation in the work domain. The purpose of this study was to examine outcomes associated with the amount of pay, and perceived distributive and procedural justice regarding pay in relation to those for perceived managerial need support. Participants were 166 bank employees who also reported on their basic psychological need satisfaction and intrinsic work motivation. SEM-analyses tested a self-determination theory (SDT) model, with satisfaction of the competence and autonomy needs as an intervening variable. The primary findings were that amount of pay and employees' perceived distributive justice regarding their pay were unrelated to employees' need satisfaction and intrinsic work motivation, but procedural justice regarding pay did affect these variables. However, managerial need support was the most important factor for promoting need satisfaction and intrinsic work motivation both directly, indirectly, and as a moderator in the model. Hence, the results of the present organizational field study support earlier laboratory experiments within the SDT framework showing that monetary rewards did not enhance intrinsic motivation. This seems to have profound implications for organizations concerned about motivating their employees.