The work motivation of research scientists and its effect on research performance

Abstract

This research examines the work motivation profile of research scientists and the effect of work motivation on research performance. A sample of United Kingdom-based research scientists (N = 405) working in the chemical, biological and biomedical research domains took part in the study. Participants completed a survey based measure of motivational sources and self-report research performance evaluation. The motivational sources of internal self-concept motivation and instrumental motivation were found to be the strongest and weakest respectively for research scientists. External self-concept motivation was found to be significantly higher among younger scientists. No gender differences were found in the motivational profile of scientists. While controlling for the influences of age and gender, internal self-concept motivation was found to have a significant positive effect on research performance, and instrumental motivation was found to have a significant negative effect on research performance. Consistent with prior research, differences in research performance across age and gender were also identified. The implications of these findings for our understanding of the effective management of scientific research are discussed.

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“…Older researchers (50+) more often noted "the opportunity to take part in academic conferences and workshops" as a condition of their creative self-realization. These results are fully in line with the conclusions of similar international studies [Ryan, 2014;Cucu-Ciuhan, Guita-Alexandru, 2014]: differences in the motivations of researchers in different age groups are mostly social. Young researchers are interested in advancing their career, tend to be individualistic, strive to make a name for themselves and win recognition without associating themselves with any group.…”

“…We can see that the need for knowledge and creativity plays a key role in choosing science and education as the areas for one's professional self-realization: "creative and innovative work" and "personal research interests" were among the researchers' main motives, and these certainly belong in the personal motives category. External material incentives such as "well-paid job" and "bonuses and benefits" turned out to be at the bottom of the list of priorities, which is fully in line with the results of international studies [Ryan, 2014;Lam, 2011;Cucu-Ciuhan, Guita-Alexandru, 2014], previously collected Russian data , and data for other countries participating in the CDH survey. For example, in Belgium and Spain, the respondents also named "creative and innovative work" as the main reason of their choosing a career in science -more than 60% and 70%, respectively.…”

“…Such studies are moving towards developing more complex and more closely integrated basic concepts, which can no longer be unequivocally classified as representing content or process, emotional or cognitive theories. Present-day approaches imply building complex integrated models such as, e.g., the meta-theory of motivation [Ryan, 2014], while the general trend is moving on from studying specific motives to developing comprehensive theories combining internal and external motivational factors and their temporal dynamics [Brabander, Martens, 2014;Ryan, Deci, 2000;Kanfer, Ackerman, 2000;Leontiev, 1996]. The concept proposed by a leading motivation theoretician Alexei Leontiev can be considered a comprehensive or integral one.…”

Service or Devotion? Motivation Patterns of Russian Researchers

“…We can see that the need for knowledge and creativity plays a key role in choosing science and education as the areas for one's professional self-realization: "creative and innovative work" and "personal research interests" were among the researchers' main motives, and these certainly belong in the personal motives category. External material incentives such as "well-paid job" and "bonuses and benefits" turned out to be at the bottom of the list of priorities, which is fully in line with the results of international studies [Ryan, 2014;Lam, 2011;Cucu-Ciuhan, Guita-Alexandru, 2014], previously collected Russian data [Gokhberg et al, 2016], and data for other countries participating in the CDH survey. For example, in Belgium and Spain, the respondents also named "creative and innovative work" as the main reason of their choosing a career in science -more than 60% and 70%, respectively.…”

“…Such studies are moving towards developing more complex and more closely integrated basic concepts, which can no longer be unequivocally classified as representing content or process, emotional or cognitive theories. Present-day approaches imply building complex integrated models such as, e.g., the meta-theory of motivation [Ryan, 2014], while the general trend is moving on from studying specific motives to developing comprehensive theories combining internal and external motivational factors and their temporal dynamics [Brabander, Martens, 2014;Ryan, Deci, 2000;Kanfer, Ackerman, 2000;Leontiev, 1996]. The concept proposed by a leading motivation theoretician Alexei Leontiev can be considered a comprehensive or integral one.…”