Abstract
The inter-dynamic symbiosis between employees’ motivation and social contact is crucial in our understanding of behavioral management and as such, this study investigates the effect of perceptual propinquity on double demotivation in a repeated subject design. There were two hypotheses. Firstly, it is hypothesized that the subjects who are highly and lowly paid as compared to their counterparts of same level will be demotivated (double demotivation) than those that are equitably paid. Secondly, it is predicted that the subjects who are highly and lowly paid and at a close propinquity from their counterparts of the same level (perceptual propinquity) will be more demotivated than those whose propinquity is far from their counterparts, whereas for those equitably paid, there will be no demotivation. A total of 132 undergraduate university students were instructed to imagine working in the same organization (Scenario A) and view a similar colleague working in the same organization, and for a different organization (Scenario B) in three conditions of low, high, and equitable were told that a counterpart doing the same job is paid more, less or equitable as compared to them respectively and then, they rated their job satisfaction and provide explanations for their ratings. Consistent with Social Equity Theory (SET), both underpaid and overpaid groups has significantly less motivation than the equitably paid groups. Furthermore, the results do support the hypothesis that the closer in propinquity for workers paid differently, either high or low as compared to their counterparts of the same level, thus the demotivation effect is greater than those far in propinquity for doing the same job.
Highlights
In our world of work, pay and motivation are crucial factors in organizational success, or, failure, and both concepts occur synergistically in the context of employeeorganizational dynamics
The double demotivation effect has been linked to other psychological constructs including, personality [6], intrinsic motivation [7, 8], and negative social affections [4, 9]
These studies have broaden our understanding of work motivation in context of salary differential, double demotivation has not been externally examined in terms of propinquity
Summary
In our world of work, pay and motivation are crucial factors in organizational success, or, failure, and both concepts occur synergistically in the context of employeeorganizational dynamics. The double demotivation effect has been linked to other psychological constructs including, personality [6], intrinsic motivation [7, 8], and negative social affections [4, 9] These studies have broaden our understanding of work motivation in context of salary differential, double demotivation has not been externally examined in terms of propinquity. The Gibsonian ecological approach emphasizes the analysis of perception and the stimulus interacting with the person in the environment for explaining a particular set of behavior, an integration of it with social equity theory on double demotivation with perceptual propinquity into a gestalt would enhanced our conceptualization of double demotivation in a broader context of work motivation. The high and low paid subjects close in propinquity will be more demotivated than those far from their counterparts
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
