Satisfying Newcomers’ Needs: The Role of Socialization Tactics and Supervisor Autonomy Support

© 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. We investigate a novel approach to newcomer socialization based on self-determination theory (SDT). A core assumption of SDT is that when social contexts support basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, people are more likely to integrate new experience effectively and thrive in their environment. We sought to examine the role of psychological need support within the context of newcomer socialization and the period of early entry where newcomers learn their new role and become integrated within the organization. We propose that organizational socialization tactics and perceived autonomy-supportive supervision jointly influence newcomers’ basic psychological needs and, in turn, their organizational commitment and withdrawal cognitions. Results from structural equation modeling analyses from a time-lagged study of 489 MBA interns supported our hypothesized model. There were significant indirect effects of institutionalized socialization tactics and supervisor autonomy support on both affective organizational commitment and withdrawal cognitions, via psychological need satisfaction. Use of institutionalized tactics also was negatively associated with interns’ specific need for autonomy, suggesting that individualized tactics may play a role in supporting newcomers’ sense of self-determination. A post hoc moderation analysis further suggested a substitutive pattern in the interaction between supervisor autonomy support and institutionalized tactics, emphasizing the central role that supervisors play in newcomer socialization, particularly when it pertains to newcomers’ psychological need satisfaction. Our results indicate that SDT is a promising theoretical framework for studying newcomer adjustment

Collateral damage associated with performance-based pay: the role of stress appraisals

© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Drawing on stress appraisal and self-determination theories, we hypothesized that the more requirements of performance-based pay are appraised as a challenge, the more individuals will feel less strain and be more prosocial, and that these effects will be explained by autonomous motivations. Conversely, the more requirements of performance-based pay are appraised as a hindrance, the more individuals will feel more strain and be less prosocial, and these effects will be explained by controlled motivations. An experiment (N = 82) provided support for the mediational hypotheses regarding challenge appraisal, intrinsic motivation, and the strain outcomes of anxiety and fatigue. Hindrance appraisal was found to directly reduce prosocial behaviour (as coded in task responses). Furthermore, in reward conditions that were directly performance-salient, hindrance appraisal resulted in greater fatigue. A field study (N = 322) revealed further support for the hypotheses on emotional exhaustion and organizational citizenship. Overall, there was support for the role of autonomous forms of motivation as mechanisms in these associations, but less support for controlled forms of motivation. Thus, stress appraisals of performance-based pay can improve our understanding of when “collateral damage” effects of extrinsic rewards can occur (i.e., when requirements are viewed as hindering). Moreover, effects of stress appraisals can be partially explained by different qualities of motivation from the self-determination theory perspective

“It’s [Not] All ‘Bout the Money”: How do Performance-based Pay and Support of Psychological Needs Variables Relate to Job Performance?

The use of performance-based pay is increasing rapidly, but empirical evidence on how and why it relates to job performance, as well as its relative strategical importance, remains unclear. The present study examined the relative importance of performance-based pay variables and support of psychological needs variables for task and contextual performance in a sample of 582 white-collar employees in Sweden. Multiple regression results, based on survey and register data, showed that the instrumentality of the pay system related to lower levels of task and contextual performance. However, supplementary relative weight analysis (RWA) showed that, in relative terms, instrumentality of the pay system was of minor importance for performance. Performance-based pay-raise amount was positively related to contextual performance but not predictive of task performance. Procedural pay-setting justice was unrelated to both outcomes. Among the support of psychological needs variables, feedback and job autonomy had positive associations with both outcomes while social support from colleagues was not predictive of performance. Considering the explained variance (16–17%), the performance-based pay variables combined accounted for up to a third (12.6–29.2%) while support of psychological needs variables accounted for more than half of the explained variance (56.1–68.1%) in task and contextual performance. The results indicate that organizations would benefit from putting support of psychological needs to the forefront of their motivational strategies as a complement to administrating complex compensation systems

The challenges of volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic

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A review and empirical comparison of motivation scoring methods: An application to self-determination theory

© 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Self-determination Theory differentiates various types of motivation, each of which have different consequences for well-being and behavior. Despite broad agreement concerning the nature of different types of motivation, numerous scoring methods, each of which rely on different assumptions, are commonly practiced. These practices range from a relative autonomy index that collapses all types of motivation into a single index, higher-order models grouping subscales into a two-factor solution, to multi-factorial approaches examining all motivation types as separate constructs. Existing evidence has not empirically compared these methods or clearly favored the use of one over another. We review each method and further investigate the advantages and disadvantages of each approach by directly comparing a range of commonly utilized scoring methods, as well as recently developed methods across six independent samples from various life domains to determine their effectiveness. Results generally favor multidimensional methods (e.g., exploratory structural equation modeling, B-ESEM, and CFA) as more comprehensive scoring practices as they maximize construct relevant information. However, selection of an ideal method will rely on theoretical congruence between methodology and research questions

A motivational model of employee attachment to an organization

This Handbook provides an up-to-date review of theory and research pertaining to employee commitment in the workplace, outlining its value for both employers and employees and identifying key factors in its development, maintenance or ..