Self‐determination theory and work motivation

Abstract

SummaryCognitive evaluation theory, which explains the effects of extrinsic motivators on intrinsic motivation, received some initial attention in the organizational literature. However, the simple dichotomy between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation made the theory difficult to apply to work settings. Differentiating extrinsic motivation into types that differ in their degree of autonomy led to self-determination theory, which has received widespread attention in the education, health care, and sport domains. This article describes self-determination theory as a theory of work motivation and shows its relevance to theories of organizational behavior.

Explaining authentic leadership work outcomes from the perspective of self-determination theory

“…There is a relation between goal attainment and life satisfaction: when employees are autonomously motivated in pursuing self-generated goals, there is a strong relation between goal attainment and life satisfaction. Whereas, when employees are more controlled in their goal pursuits, there is no relation between goal attainment and life satisfaction (Gagne & Deci, 2005). Thus authentic leadership by supporting follower autonomy and selfdetermination leads to increase of followers' intrinsic motivation, trust, organizational commitment and job satisfaction.…”

“…However, empirical evidence shows twofold influence of feedback on intrinsic motivation. First, positive feedback facilitates intrinsic motivation by providing a sense of confidence, while the negative feedback undermines intrinsic motivation leaving a person amotivated (Gagne & Deci, 2005). Secondly, verbal reward, even positive, can have a significant controlling component and thus has the power to undermine intrinsic motivation.…”

“…Scholars agree that outcomes of authentic leadership remain unexplored theoretically and empirically. However, there is a theoretical agreement that authentic leaders stimulate followers' identification ( Researches on SDT indicate relationship between managerial support and positive employees' work outcomes (Kuuvas, 2009;Gagne & Deci, 2005). The support for employee autonomy expressed by the supervisors, i.e.…”

“…The support for employee autonomy expressed by the supervisors, i.e. acknowledging subordinates' perspectives, providing relevant information in a non-controlling way, offering choice, has a positive effect on employees' satisfaction, level of trust in corporate management, and displays other positive work related outcomes (Gagne & Deci, 2005).…”

The acquisition of pedagogical expertise in dance : a constraints-led approach

“…However, according to Maslow (1943Maslow ( , 1954, this should not occur because food is a basic physiological need and seeking spiritual peak experiences is a form of self-actualisation; therefore, individuals who cannot achieve basic physiological needs are not capable of fulfilling selfactualisation needs. Furthermore, other limitations of Maslow's theory are that it lacks an empirical approach and only focuses on the energisers of motivated action, not on how behaviour is directed (Gagné & Deci, 2005).…”