A theoretical model of projects in motivated behavior

This article introduces a theoretical model of projects in motivated behavior. It begins with the discussion of two theoretical traditions that conceived a project as either an anticipation of action or a set of actions aimed at the same goals. The limitations of both traditions are discussed, and a project is then conceived as an integration of internal processes and actions. Next, a theoretical model of projects is presented, comprising cognitive, motivational, volitional, emotional, and behavioral components. A framework interrelating the different components of the model is presented. Considering the framework introduced, a project is then defined as a process comprising the formation, enactment, and maintenance of intentional structures and actions. The definition is comprehensive because it integrates both the previous theoretical traditions of the project in order to overcome the limitations of both. The applications of the new approach in existential theories and management sciences are discussed

Performance pay, group selection and group performance

Within a laboratory experiment we investigate a principal-agent game in which agents may, first, self-select into a group task (GT) or an individual task (IT) and, second, choose work effort. In their choices of task and effort the agents have to consider pay contracts for both tasks as offered by the principal. The rational solution of the game implies that contract design may not induce agents to select GT and provide positive effort in GT. Furthermore it predicts equal behavior of agents with different productivities. In contrast, considerations of trust, reciprocity and cooperation – the social-emotional model of behavior – suggest that contract design can influence the agents’ willingness to join groups and provide effort. We analyze the data by applying a two-step regression model (multinomial logit and tobit) and find that counter to the rational solution, contract design does influence both, task selection and effort choice. The principal can increase participation in work groups and can positively influence group performance. Larger payment increases the share of socially motivated agents in work groups. The selection effect is larger than the motivation effect

Motivation and Sorting in Open Source Software Innovation

This paper studies the role of intrinsic motivation, reputation, and reciprocity in driving open source software innovation. Unlike previous literature based on survey data, we exploit the observed pattern of contributions - the .revealed preference. of developers - to infer the underlying incentives driving the decision to contribute source code. Using detailed information on code contributions and project membership, we classify software developers into distinct types and study how contributions from each developer type vary according to the open source license type and other project characteristics. We find that developers strongly sort by license type, project size, and corporate sponsorship, and that reciprocity is important only for a small subset of projects. We also show that contributions have a substantial impact on the performance of open source projects.open source software, innovation, incentives, intrinsic motivation, motivated agents, reputation, reciprocity

Drivers for end-users' collaboration in participatory innovation development and living lab processes

Design for users often uses user-centered methods and methodologies. However, this requires an active participation of these users. In this article we explore the motivation and drivers for users to collaborate in innovation processes within a Living Lab environment and approach. We do this by means of data gathered during the course of four years of Living Lab-activity by iMinds-iLab.o on three levels: macro-level (general panel activity), meso-level (activity and motivation within a Living Lab), and micro-level (activity and motivation in a Living Lab-project)

Fostering Critical Thinking about Climate Change: Applying Community Psychology to an Environmental Education Project with Youth

This article argues for the participation of community psychology in issues of global climate change. The knowledge accumulated and experience gained in the discipline of community psychology have great relevance to many topics related to the environment. Practitioners of community psychology could therefore make significant contributions to climate change mitigation. To illustrate this assertion, we describe an education project conducted with youth engaged in a community-based environmental organization. This initiative was motivated by the idea that engaged and critically aware youth often become change agents for social movements. Towards this purpose, rather than using mass marketing strategies to motivate small behavior changes, this project focused intensively on a few youth with the vision that these youth would also influence those around them to rethink their environmental habits. This project was influenced by five community psychology concepts: stakeholder participation, ecological and systems thinking, social justice, praxis, and empirical grounding. In this article we discuss the influence of these concepts on the project’s outcomes, as measured through an evaluative study conducted to assess the impacts of the project on the participating youth in terms of their thinking and action. The contributions of community psychology were found to have greatly impacted the quality of the project and the outcomes experienced by the youth

Towards a Theory of Software Development Expertise

Software development includes diverse tasks such as implementing new features, analyzing requirements, and fixing bugs. Being an expert in those tasks requires a certain set of skills, knowledge, and experience. Several studies investigated individual aspects of software development expertise, but what is missing is a comprehensive theory. We present a first conceptual theory of software development expertise that is grounded in data from a mixed-methods survey with 335 software developers and in literature on expertise and expert performance. Our theory currently focuses on programming, but already provides valuable insights for researchers, developers, and employers. The theory describes important properties of software development expertise and which factors foster or hinder its formation, including how developers' performance may decline over time. Moreover, our quantitative results show that developers' expertise self-assessments are context-dependent and that experience is not necessarily related to expertise.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 26th ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE 2018), ACM, 201

Competing or aiming to be average?: Normification as a means of engaging digital volunteers

Engagement, motivation and active contribution by digital volunteers are key requirements for crowdsourcing and citizen science projects. Many systems use competitive elements, for example point scoring and leaderboards, to achieve these ends. However, while competition may motivate some people, it can have a neutral or demotivating effect on others. In this paper we explore theories of personal and social norms and investigate normification as an alternative approach to engagement, to be used alongside or instead of competitive strategies. We provide a systematic review of existing crowdsourcing and citizen science literature and categorise the ways that theories of norms have been incorporated to date. We then present qualitative interview data from a pro-environmental crowdsourcing study, Close the Door, which reveals normalising attitudes in certain participants. We assess how this links with competitive behaviour and participant performance. Based on our findings and analysis of norm theories, we consider the implications for designers wishing to use normification as an engagement strategy in crowdsourcing and citizen science systems

The use of Virtual Reality in Enhancing Interdisciplinary Research and Education

Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly being recognized for its educational potential and as an effective way to convey new knowledge to people, it supports interactive and collaborative activities. Affordable VR powered by mobile technologies is opening a new world of opportunities that can transform the ways in which we learn and engage with others. This paper reports our study regarding the application of VR in stimulating interdisciplinary communication. It investigates the promises of VR in interdisciplinary education and research. The main contributions of this study are (i) literature review of theories of learning underlying the justification of the use of VR systems in education, (ii) taxonomy of the various types and implementations of VR systems and their application in supporting education and research (iii) evaluation of educational applications of VR from a broad range of disciplines, (iv) investigation of how the learning process and learning outcomes are affected by VR systems, and (v) comparative analysis of VR and traditional methods of teaching in terms of quality of learning. This study seeks to inspire and inform interdisciplinary researchers and learners about the ways in which VR might support them and also VR software developers to push the limits of their craft.Comment: 6 Page

Team equilibrium and innovation performance

2013 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other worksToday competition has increased between organizations and they are urged to improve constantly their performance throughout innovation if they want to survive and be profitable. However, an organization can't be innovative if it doesn't counts with creative people and build teams to strength its creative and innovative capabilities. Besides, the impact of technology in innovation has been widely studied but there are others major aspects that need more exploration to understand their influence in it. For example, collaborative work, multicultural teamwork, creative teamwork, entrepreneurial behavior, etc. Some authors suggest more research is needed regarding organization capabilities that promote effective relationships for innovation. According to West (2002), three issues dominated research about creativity and innovation among teams: the characteristics of group tasks and their impact in the creative-innovative process; the role of diversity in knowledge and skills between team members; and team integration. If these issues are relevant for team creativity and innovation, then frameworks and tools to configure teams are necessary. It may be taken by granted that there must be an equilibrium of roles within teams to foster creativity focused on innovation. So, in this paper several approaches of creativity are reviewed. Then a conceptual model to foster Team Equilibrium and strength innovation performance is proposed and applied through a web-based tool. A first empiric exploration is presented. The proposed model can be used as a basis to develop tools that helps teams for self-analysis.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version