Motivational Paths Research Articles

Prosocial sharing with organizations after the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal test of the role of motives for helping and time perspectives.

The time after the COVID-19 pandemic posed a threat to engagement in prosocial behaviors within charity organizations. In the current study, we intended to test how three motivational paths: affective empathy-based, life satisfaction-based, and perceived social support-based shaped the change in intentions to give money and time to charity organizations over a yearly period (right after revocation of the most essential anti-COVID-19 laws and at the same time, outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, in May 2022 and after a year, in late April-early May 2023). We also tested how past negative and present hedonistic time perspectives-namely, those most robust in predicting emotional states - shaped the changes in the abovementioned motivational paths and giving intentions. We conducted our longitudinal study on the general population of Poland (N = 566). We found that there has been a significant drop in the willingness to give time to organizations over the year after loosening the COVID-19 restrictions and the outbreak of war in Ukraine. We found that affective empathy helped sustain the intentions to give time to organizations, whereas past negative time perspective contributed to the decrease in such intentions. Our study suggests threats to organizations and highlights potential ways to encourage supporting them and caring for their volunteers' well-being.

The relationship between openness to experience and humor production: Exploring the mediating roles of cognitive flexibility and ambiguity tolerance.

The purpose of this study was to examine how individual openness to experience influences humor production and to explore the underlying psychological mechanisms of this relationship, specifically focusing on cognitive flexibility (the cognitive path) and ambiguity tolerance (the motivational path). To comprehensively evaluate individuals' humor production ability, Study 1 employed a subjective self-report questionnaire on sense of humor, while Study 2 used an objective humor dialogue generation task. The results of Study 1 indicated that openness to experience did not directly impact sense of humor; instead, the relationship between openness to experience and sense of humor was fully mediated by cognitive flexibility. In Study 2, findings showed that openness to experience positively predicted humor production ability, with ambiguity tolerance partially mediating this effect. These results suggest that individuals with higher levels of openness to experience have a greater capacity for generating humorous perspectives. Moreover, the study identified two psychological pathways-cognition and motivation-in the process of generating funny ideas. The specific pathway influenced by the measurement method used for humor production further highlights the importance of both cognitive flexibility and ambiguity tolerance in understanding how openness to experience contributes to humor production.

Green inclusive leadership and hospitality employees’ green service innovative behavior in the Chinese hospitality context: The roles of basic psychological needs and employee traditionality

With the Chinese hospitality industry’s continuous emphasis on environmental sustainability and meeting customers’ needs for eco-friendly services, how to motivate employees to implement green service innovative behaviors has become an important topic in the hospitality sector. Based on self-determination theory, this study investigates the motivational path that green inclusive leadership affects hospitality employees’ green service innovation behavior through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and further verifies the moderating effect of employees’ traditionality in the Chinese hospitality context. Using a three-wave longitudinal design, we collected data from 367 full-time hospitality employees in 11 Chinese hotels. The results demonstrated that green inclusive leadership is positively associated with green service innovative behavior, mediated by the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs. Additionally, we confirmed that employee traditionality weakened the impact of green inclusive leadership on hospitality employees’ green service innovative behavior through basic psychological needs satisfaction (at least for the satisfaction of autonomy and competence needs).

The role of leadership in nurses' wellbeing and performance: A cross-sectional survey using a dual motivational pathway model.

To examine the positive motivational paths from perceived autonomy-supportive leadership, and the negative motivational paths from perceived controlling leadership to satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs, work motivation, work performance, work engagement and somatic symptom burden among nurses using Self-Determination Theory. The study used a cross-sectional design mapping nurses' perceptions of the various study variables through a survey. Nurses working in the municipal healthcare in Norway were recruited through an electronic questionnaire sent out via a link to their emails between 29th of August and 29th of September 2020. Of them, 219 nurses completed the questionnaire. Study hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. Higher levels of perceived autonomy-supportive leadership were associated with reduced levels of somatic symptom burden and increased levels of work performance and work engagement through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and autonomous motivation, specifically identified regulation and intrinsic motivation. Perceptions of controlling leadership were associated with heightened levels of somatic symptom burden through basic psychological need frustration, amotivation and introjected motivation, along with lower levels of work engagement through need frustration and amotivation. This study underscores the positive motivational paths of perceived autonomy-supportive leadership on nurses' work performance and wellbeing through the facilitation of basic psychological need satisfaction and autonomous motivation. Conversely, the study highlights negative motivational paths of perceived controlling leadership on reduced work engagement and heightened ill-being through the basic psychological need frustration, controlled motivation and amotivation. This study provides insights and actionable recommendations for nurses and their leaders, emphasizing the significance of understanding the adverse impact associated with perceived controlling leadership. The findings underscore the importance of addressing these issues to mitigate detrimental effects on motivation and overall work functioning. No patient or public contribution.

BYOA and Security: Examining Perspective-Taking and Self-Determination

ABSTRACT Bring your own applications (BYOA) in organizational networks introduces security risks. We examine whether individuals who BYOA at work are motivated to use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect the organization’s security, a practice we describe as bring your own security (BYOS). The behaviors are examined through dual theoretical lenses (a) intrinsic motivation, capturing the personal satisfaction related to the use, and (b) perspective-taking, capturing the user’s ability to consider information security from the organization’s perspective. We analyzed survey data of 154 samples using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Our results demonstrate that while the intrinsic motivation path is instrumental in influencing MFA use, perspective-taking offers significant explanatory power to information security behaviors. This article extends the current knowledge of the impact of perspective-taking on voluntary security behavior, which makes a novel and significant contribution to cybersecurity research and practice.

A multilevel investigation of the impact of error management culture on restaurant employee voice

PurposeThis study aims to examine the relation between error management culture and restaurant employee promotive and prohibitive voices. Drawing on socially desirable responding theory, the authors also propose a dual-mediation mechanism underlying the impact of error management culture on employee voice: psychological empowerment, as the agentic motive, and psychological safety, as the communal motive.Design/methodology/approachThe authors recruited 223 participants working in 37 restaurants in China for the two-wave surveys with a one-week interval. The authors use a multilevel modeling paradigm to test the study hypotheses.FindingsThis research examines a multilevel model suggesting that error management culture can boost employee promotive voice and prohibitive voice via the mechanisms of psychological safety and empowerment. In addition, the results suggest that psychological empowerment (vs psychological safety) has a strong mediation effect between error management culture and promotive voice, but the authors find no difference in mediating effects between error management culture and prohibitive voice.Practical implicationsRestaurants can encourage employee voice by developing and maintaining an error management culture. Organizations can also consider motivating employees from both agentic and communal perspectives. Moreover, managers should focus more on empowering employees in areas characterized by Confucianism or collectivism.Originality/valueThe current research adds to the voice literature by identifying an organizational cultural antecedent of employee voice–error management culture. Agentic and communal motives are two motivational paths of employee voice. It also extends the social desirability theory by highlighting the role of the agentic motive in the Chinese restaurant context.

When enough is not enough: behavioral and motivational paths to compulsive social media consumption

PurposeCompulsive social media use has the potential to reduce well-being. In this study, the authors propose that there are two main paths to compulsive social media consumption. One is behavioral and based on habit; the other is motivational and rooted in the fear of missing out. This study aims to test the antecedents of these two drivers as well as their consequences for the tendency to engage in compulsive social media consumption.Design/methodology/approachThe authors applied a quantitative research design and collected data through a survey of 600 respondents from a representative sample. The authors used structural equation modeling to test their conceptual model and hypotheses. Gender and age were included as moderators to investigate the model’s boundary conditions.FindingsThe authors found support for all the suggested relationships in the conceptual model. The findings indicate two main manifestations of compulsive social media use – always being logged in (i.e. the frequency of social media consumption) and excessive use (the intensity of consumption) – that in turn spurred a reinforcer of compulsivity: disconnection anxiety. The findings also indicate two main paths to compulsive social media consumption. One path is behavioral, based on habit, and the other is motivational, based on fear of missing out. Moreover, the authors identified the key antecedents of both paths. Habit formation was observed to be a function of situational cues (technological nudges in the online sphere) and consumer engagement. Fear of missing out was shaped by both injunctive norms (a consumer norm to be online) and descriptive norms (social proof).Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the antecedents of compulsive social media consumption suggested in this study have a strong and significant effect, the explained variance in the dependent variables being always logged in and excessive social media use indicates that there might be other drivers as well. These should be explored along with moderators other than gender and age to identify the potential boundary conditions of the model.Practical implicationsThe main implications of the present work point to the “ease” with which typical or normal social media use may spiral out of control and become compulsive, with adverse implications for consumer health and well-being.Originality/valueThe behavioral and motivational paths to compulsive social media consumption have been less explored and have not yet been studied in conjunction, nor have their antecedents and consequences. Thus, this is a novel approach to understanding how social media use can potentially lead to reduced control and well-being.

Does personal mastery lead to creativity for complex jobs: a moderated mediation model

PurposeThe purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between personal mastery orientation and employee creativity through internalized extrinsic motivation (identified regulation) and intrinsic motivation while testing job complexity as a boundary condition.Design/methodology/approachThe authors tested this study model using a cross-sectional design with a sample of (N = 361). The study population was software developers from across different cities of Pakistan. Respondents were asked to rate themselves on creative behavior. Partial least square structural equation (PLS-SEM) and PROCESS macro were used for data analysis.FindingsThe results of the study confirm that personal mastery orientation positively affects employee creativity. Furthermore, both identified regulation and intrinsic motivation mediate the relationship between personal mastery and employee creativity. Job complexity was shown to moderate the direct relationship between personal mastery, identified regulation and intrinsic motivation such that for higher job complexity levels, the relationship between personal mastery and both types of motivation (identified and intrinsic) becomes stronger. The authors confirm that the indirect relationship between personal mastery and employee creativity through identified regulation was contingent upon job complexity level. In comparison, the indirect relationship between personal mastery and employee creativity through intrinsic motivation is not contingent upon the level of job complexity.Research limitations/implicationsThere are a few limitations to the authors' study. The current study is based on a cross-sectional design; therefore, this is of limited causal value. The authors suggest the studies examining similar relations to this study model use a longitudinal design. The incumbent of the job reports creative behavior; therefore, this is susceptible to common method bias (CMB). A peer-reported or supervisor-reported creative behavior should be used to eliminate the CMB in future studies.Practical implicationsThe authors' study provides valuable input in identifying the complex mechanism through which creative behavior is induced involving individual personality disposition, job attributes and various types of motivations. In this study, the authors tried to reveal the mechanism through which personal mastery orientation predicts creative behavior. In the authors' endeavor of testing the motivational paths through which personal mastery orientation predicts creative behavior, the authors confirmed the efficacy of autonomous-complex motivation based on the self-determination framework. The authors' findings add to the evidence of the importance of intrinsic motivation in inducing creative behavior and recommend that the researcher should not ignore intrinsic motivation when exploring the effectiveness of extrinsic motivation.Originality/valueThe study's findings strengthen the argument of the continuum-like structure of the motivation types under self-determination theory(SDT). The authors argued that intrinsic motivation is a relatively stable type of motivation when creative behavior is involved and is not contingent upon the job attributes. These findings add to the evidence that intrinsic motivation is stable compared to extrinsic motivation. Another important contribution of this study is that the authors identified a boundary condition for the internalized extrinsic motivation when serving as creativity predicting mechanism and ruled the presence of a conditional effect when intrinsic motivation is involved.

How Social Norms Influence Purchasing Intention of Domestic Products: The Mediating Effects of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Domestic Product Judgments.

Buying domestic products has become increasingly important in many countries. As a form of social influence, social norms affect people's domestic purchasing intentions and behavior. The current study aims to examine the mechanisms by which social norms influence domestic purchasing intentions through the lens of consumer ethnocentrism and domestic product judgments. The data were collected through an online survey in China, and a total of 346 valid responses were obtained. The results indicate that social norms influence domestic purchasing intention through four paths, namely, direct path, motivational path, cognitive path, and motivational-cognitive path. Consumer ethnocentrism and domestic product judgments, serving as the motivational and cognitive factors, respectively, play mediating and serial mediating roles in the relationship between social norms and domestic purchasing intention. In addition, consumer ethnocentrism has two dimensions, namely, pro-domestic and anti-foreign consumer ethnocentrism, and only the former plays a significant role in the model. The current study has theoretical contributions to research on domestic purchasing intention and practical implications for interventions in domestic purchasing behavior. Future studies are encouraged to conduct experiments, distinguish between different types of social norms, measure purchasing behavior, and verify the relationships in other countries.

The moderating role of rational beliefs in tackling the negative impact of work–home interface on self-rated job performance via a motivation path.

The moderating role of rational beliefs in tackling the negative impact of work–home interface on self-rated job performance via a motivation path.

How modern working environments shape attendance behaviour: A longitudinal study on weekly flexibilization, boundaryless work and presenteeism

AbstractIn the face of technological advancements, flexibilization and boundaryless work have become integral parts of modern occupational settings. Simultaneously, current research indicates a considerable increase in presenteeism—the behaviour of working while sick. Meta‐analytic findings indicate two main drivers for presenteeism: a high work motivation and an impaired state of health and psychological well‐being. Research on flexibilization and boundaryless work shows that these job conditions enhance employees' work motivation but also impair employees' health. Based on conservation of resources theory and Miraglia and John's (J Occupational Health Psychol, 21, 2016, 261) dual‐path model on antecedents of presenteeism, we investigate how both job conditions affect attendance behaviour (absenteeism and presenteeism) via motivation and well‐being by conducting a weekly diary study over the course of 9 weeks. In total, 284 people provided data on flexibilization, boundaryless work, flow experience, well‐being, absenteeism and presenteeism (N = 2284 week‐level). Multilevel mediational analyses revealed that flexibilization prevents presenteeism, whereas boundaryless work can increase presenteeism. The results further revealed support for the health impairment path at the within‐person and between‐person levels whereas the motivational path was not supported at the within‐person level. Our results offer several theoretical and practical implications for how modern work shape attendance behaviour.

Motivations for blood donation by HIV-positive individuals on antiretrovirals in South Africa: A qualitative study.

We performed a mixed-methods study to explore the motivations associated with blood donation by donors with known, but undisclosed HIV-positive status and ARV use (HIV+/ARV+), seeking potential strategies to reduce such donations and mitigate risk for blood recipients. Here, we report predominantly the qualitative component. A safe and sustainable blood supply is dependent in part, on effective pre-donation donor assessment. We previously described failure by HIV+/ARV+ blood donors to disclose their status. Such donations may lead to transfusion-transmitted HIV. The social ecological model provided the conceptual framework for this study. Previously identified HIV+/ARV+ donors were invited to complete a survey (including a validated stigma scale) and qualitative interview, which underwent inductive and deductive thematic analysis. We uncovered two primary motivational paths to HIV+/ARV+ blood donations: privacy and altruism. The latter included a motivation not previously reported in the literature: donating specifically for other people living with HIV (PLWH). The other primary factor was a lack of privacy. These accounts often included donors encountering donation opportunities when accompanied by people to whom they had not and did not plan to disclose their HIV status. Most were highly confident their donations would be identified as HIV-positive and discarded. We demonstrated a complex interaction between individual, social, cultural, and structural/policy factors in blood donations by PLWH who take ARV. Recommendations to limit HIV + ARV+ donations include: (1) Targeted communication strategies to increase knowledge among PLWH of their deferral from blood donation-without increasing stigma, and (2) development of procedures to assist those who feel unable to opt-out of donation due to privacy concerns.

Supplemental Material for The Moderating Role of Rational Beliefs in Tackling the Negative Impact of Work–Home Interface on Self-Rated Job Performance via a Motivation Path

Supplemental Material for The Moderating Role of Rational Beliefs in Tackling the Negative Impact of Work–Home Interface on Self-Rated Job Performance via a Motivation Path

Psychosocial safety climate (PSC) at middle management level in the healthcare sector: A contribution to the Italian validation of psychosocial safety climate-4.

Psychosocial safety climate (PSC) refers to workers' shared perceptions of organizational policies, practices and procedures for the protection of psychological health and safety. PSC offers a multilevel organizational approach that expands traditional models of workplace stress, giving a more comprehensive understanding of occupational health and safety issues. Although considerable research on psychosocial risks in the healthcare sector has been conducted, few studies have explored the role of PSC among healthcare workers at middle management level. Additionally, no validated version of PSC is available in Italian language. The aim of this study is to contribute to the validation of the Italian 4-item version of the PSC and to explore this theory within the Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R) among a sample of Italian healthcare workers by testing PSC at the middle management level. We used cross-sectional data from 276 employees working in 17 different wards in a large Italian hospital. Intra-class coefficient (ICC) coefficient and agreement index were used to test PSC as a climate construct (data nested to hospital ward level). We performed hierarchical linear models to test mediation and moderation effects. The Italian version of PSC-4 proved to have good psychometric properties and confirmed its role as a group-level construct (α = 0.84; ICC = 0.16). Multilevel random coefficient models showed PSC was associated with Job demands (Effort: B = -0.36, SE = 0.07; Emotional demands: B = -0.03, SE = 0.01) and Job resources (Reward: B = 1.16, SE = 0.01; Physical work environment: B = 0.06, SE = 0.01). Results confirmed the indirect effect of PSC on Psychological (Burnout) and Occupational health (Job satisfaction) outcomes supporting the role of Job resources and Job demands as mediators. The multilevel analysis did not find a significant interaction terms between PSC and Job demands on Burnout therefore the moderation hypothesis was not supported. The Italian version of PSC-4 is a valid tool to evaluate PSC. These findings sustain the multilevel framework of PSC and the significant role played by mid-leaders in both the health impairment and motivational path. Further studies should explore the buffering effect of PSC at higher baseline levels as well as the adoption of PSC as a target for occupational health intervention the Italian context.

A Longitudinal Study on Weekly Flexibilization, Boundaryless Work, and Presenteeism

In the face of technological advancements, flexibilization and boundaryless work have become integral parts of modern occupational settings. Simultaneously, current research indicates a considerable increase in presenteeism—the behavior of working while sick. Meta-analytic findings indicate two main drivers for presenteeism: a high work motivation and an impaired state of health and psychological well-being. Research on flexibilization and boundaryless work shows that these job conditions enhance employees’ work motivation but also impair employees’ health. Based on conservation of resources theory and Miraglia and John’s (2016) dual-path model on antecedents of presenteeism, we investigate how both job conditions affect attendance behavior (absenteeism and presenteeism) via motivation and well-being by conducting a weekly diary study over the course of nine weeks. In total, 284 people provided data on flexibilization, boundaryless work, flow experience, well-being, absenteeism, and presenteeism. Multilevel mediational analyses revealed that flexibilization prevents presenteeism, whereas boundaryless work can increase presenteeism (N = 2284 week-level). The results further revealed support for the health impairment path at the within-person and between-person levels whereas the motivational path was not supported at the within-person level. Our results offer several theoretical and practical implications for how modern work shape attendance behavior.

Mindfulness as Resource: Emotional, Cognitive, and Motivational Paths to Burnout and Work Engagement

Dispositional mindfulness has been theorized as a personal resource in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) framework. However, this proposition has drawn minimal empirical investigation, masking if and how mindfulness influences burnout and work engagement. We develop and test a theoretical model for how mindfulness may benefit both burnout and work engagement by predicting job demands and job resources, Specifically, we theorize three mediating paths – emotional, cognitive, and motivational – between mindfulness and JD-R outcomes. In a cross-lagged two-wave field study of employees at four organizations, we found support for these relationships. More mindful individuals reported lower burnout and higher work engagement, relationships mediated through reported job demands (i.e., surface acting, workload) and job resources (i.e., task significance). These findings support the proposition that mindfulness acts as a personal resource that simultaneously benefits multiple outcomes. We conclude by discussing the research and practical implications of these results regarding mindfulness at work.

The Injustice–Efficacy Tradeoff: Counteracting Indirect Effects of Goal Proximity on Collective Action

Based on dual-pathway models of collective action, this research examines how social movements’ proximity to their stated goal affects potential supporters’ willingness and motivations to engage. Across three experimental studies in two different contexts, and for members of both the disadvantaged ingroups and advantaged outgroups (total N = 1,102), we find consistent support for two counteracting indirect effects of goal distance on collective action. When movements are closer to their goals, potential supporters perceive less injustice, which reduces their willingness to engage in collective action for the movements’ cause via the emotion-focused pathway. At the same time, perceptions of political efficacy increase, bolstering engagement via the problem-focused pathway. We conclude that while goal proximity does not seem to affect overall intentions to engage in collective action, it does affect the motivational paths to it, which makes it a relevant factor to consider in both research and social justice contexts.

Beyond the individual: A systematic review of the effects of unit-level demands and resources on employee productivity, health, and well-being.

Creating sustainable employment-that is, a condition in which employees remain productive but also enjoy good health and well-being-is a challenge for many organizations. Work environment factors are major contributors to these employee outcomes. The job demands-resources model categorizes work environment factors into demands versus resources, which are, respectively, detrimental versus beneficial to employee outcomes. Although conceptualized as workplace factors, these job characteristics have been studied mostly at an individual level. Therefore, their roles at the supraindividual level (i.e., any work-unit level above an individual, such as group or organization) for employee productivity, health, and well-being remains unclear. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize evidence concerning job resources and job demands at the supraindividual level and their relationships to productivity, health, and work-related well-being. The review covers articles published through December 2018. In total, 202 papers met the inclusion criteria. We found stronger support for the beneficial roles of supraindividual job resources than for the detrimental roles of job demands for productivity and work-related well-being. Regarding health, most of the relationships were found to be nonsignificant. To conclude, this review demonstrates that, at the supraindividual level, the motivational path has received more support than the health impairment path. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for further research and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The longitudinal effect of violent attitude on physical aggression and the underlying motivational mechanisms

Physical aggression can cause health and social problems among undergraduate students, and should be intervened in. However, how physical aggression develops is still unclear. We argue that violent attitude should be an important predicting factor of physical aggression, and it predicts physical aggression through two motivational paths. To examine these hypotheses, we used the Violent Attitude Scale, WSAP-Hostility Scale, Anger Rumination Scale, and Buss-Perry Aggression Scale by conducting two waves of surveys with a six-month interval, with 942 undergraduates as participants. Results of cross-lagged analysis and mediation model analysis showed a modest mutually predictive relationship between hostile attribution bias and anger rumination, and violent attitude predicted physical aggression through the parallel mediating effects of hostile attribution bias and anger rumination. Our findings suggested that input variable (such as violent attitude) leads to physical aggression through in-process motivations (such as hostile attribution bias) and post-process motivations (such as anger rumination), respectively. The present study contributes to current understanding of the psychological mechanisms regarding the development of physical aggression and develops aggression theory.

Linking Creativity to Psychological Well‐being: Integrative Insights from the Instrumental Emotion Regulation Theory

AbstractResearch has recognized that people regulate their emotions not only for seeking pleasurable experiences but also for receiving instrumental gains. We draw on the theoretical framework of instrumental emotion regulation (IER; Tamir, 2005, 2009) to shed new light on the relationships among creativity, emotion, and psychological well‐being. We outline propositions that explain why there are concurrent creative and well‐being benefits when people experience emotional states that are consistent with their personality trait (e.g., worrisome emotions being consistent with trait neuroticism) even if such trait‐consistent emotions are negative. The IER perspective offers new interpretations of the creativity—well‐being relationship through motivating a more holistic view of emotion regulation and well‐being. We present an integrative theoretical model explicating that instrumental regulation toward trait‐consistent emotions engages people in emotional states that feel affectively right (affective path), motivate them intrinsically (motivational path), and boost cognitive efficiency (cognitive path), thus yielding potential downstream benefits on creativity and well‐being.