Measure Of Work Motivation Research Articles

Detecting causal relationships between work motivation and job performance: a meta-analytic review of cross-lagged studies

Given that competing hypotheses about the causal relationship between work motivation and job performance exist, the current research utilized meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) methodology to detect the causal relationships between work motivation and job performance. In particular, completing hypotheses were checked by applying longitudinal data that include 84 correlations (n = 4389) from 11 independent studies measuring both work motivation and job performance over two waves. We find that the effect of motivation (T1) on performance (T2), with performance (T1) controlled, was positive and significant (β = 0.143). However, the effect of performance (T1) on motivation (T2), with motivation (T1) controlled, was not significant. These findings remain stable and robust across different measures of job performance (task performance versus organizational citizenship behavior), different measures of work motivation (engagement versus other motivations), and different time lags (1–6 months versus 7–12 months), suggesting that work motivation is more likely to cause job performance than vice versa. Practical and theoretical contributions are discussed.

Work Motivation and Teams

We provide a new measure of work motivation and show that motivation shapes the effects of team incentives and observation by peers on performance. In particular, we measure motivation to work hard as the deviation from the money-maximizing benchmark in a real-effort experiment. While we find that average output increases in response to team incentives and observation, we find that highly motivated workers do not respond. The reason is that highly motivated workers already work hard and increasing effort even further is very costly to them.

Work Motivation and Teams

We provide a new measure of work motivation and show that motivation shapes the effects of team incentives and observation by peers on performance. In particular, we measure motivation to work hard as the deviation from the money-maximizing benchmark in a real-effort experiment. While we find that average output increases in response to team incentives and observation, we find that highly motivated workers do not respond. The reason is that highly motivated workers already work hard and increasing effort even further is very costly to them.

A Field Examination of Two Measures of Work Motivation as Predictors of Leaders' Influence Tactics

The authors tested 2 motivation measures, the Motivation Sources Inventory (MSI; J. E. Barbuto & R. W. Scholl, 1998) and the Job Choice Decision-Making Exercise (A. M. Harrell & M. J. Stahl, 1981) as predictors of leaders' influence tactics. The authors sampled 219 leader-member dyads from a variety of organizations and communities throughout the central United States. Results strongly favored the MSI as a predictor of influence tactics. Limitations of the study include low power of relationships, sample size as limited by the research design, and education levels of participants. Future researchers should use larger and more diverse samples and test other relevant antecedents of leaders' behaviors.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Maslow's Motivation Theory in Industry

This study assessed the utility of Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory for the work setting. Specifically, the predictive utility of each of the five needs was measured in terms of work motivation ( viz. promotional aspirations and the amount of effort expended) for 278 economically active individuals from various cultural groups in South Africa. Only the promotional aspirations index was used, however, as the effort expended index was totally unreliable. The physiological, safety and security, and love and belongingness needs predicted promotional aspirations for the Black group, while only physiological needs predicted promotional aspirations for the Indian subjects. On the other hand promotional aspirations were not predicted significantly by any of the needs for the White group. It was concluded that the results for the Black and Indian samples may be consistent with their socioeconomic position, while the results obtained for the White group may be explained by their lack of interest in promotional aspirations. The need for utilizing alternative measures of work motivation and work performance, and possibly adhering to a different philosophy of science in future research was indicated.

The Educational Work Components Study

The Work Components Study (WCS) questionnaire is a measure of work motivation with predictive powers as a selection device on a probabilistic basis for industrial managers. This study established the factorial validity and reliability of a modified WCS-the Educational Work Components Study (EWCS) questionnaire. The sample of 745 included 153 senior and forty-two graduate students and 118 administrators and 432 teachers randomly selected from three school districts. The data analyses consisted of varimax orthogonal and maxplane oblique R-factor analysis procedures and Cronbach’s estimate of internal consistency. Instead of sixty-six items and seven prevalent factors in the WCS, fifty-six items and six unidimensional factors paralleling the original instrument were found in the EWCS. The reliabilities of the six factors ranged from .73 to .83. These findings coupled with the strong theoretical foundation of the EWCS indicate a high potential for probing many provocative relationships based on work motivation.

Work orientation vs hygienic orientation: A bi-polar approach to the study of work motivation

Based on the work of Herzberg and associates 1959 a bi-polar measure of work orientation vs hygienic orientation was constructed. In addition to providing reliability estimates, the convergent and discriminant validity is shown through correlation of the measure with other measures of work motivation, personality measures, values, and abilities. Finally, criterion-related validity is shown by correlating the new measure with supervisor's ratings of how long it will take newly hired college graduates to reach the third level of management.