Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons^™

Prosocial Behaviors: Their Motivations And Impacts On Organizational Culture, Jennifer C. Vieweg

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

According to the International Corrupt Perceptions Index 2017, more than six billion people are living countries that are plagued by corruption (International Corrupt Perceptions Index, 2017). In an altruistic model of leadership, leaders act with the express intent of helping other people (Johnson, 2015). Within this model, good works manifest themselves as prosocial behaviors or “voluntary behavior(s) intended to benefit another and consisting of actions that benefit others or society” (Schminke, Arnaud, & Taylor, 2014, p. 730). These prosocial behaviors can create collaborative and inspirational environments (Axelsson & Axelsson, 2009), facilitate collectivism (Clarkson, 2014), and contribute to the long-term sustainability …

Book Review - Drive: The Truth About What Motivates Us, Wyatt Pagano

Marriott Student Review

This is a book review of Drive: The Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink.

Self-Efficacy - Performance Discrepancies: Examining How Over- And Underestimations Of Ability Progress Over Time, Kent Cooper Etherton

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined how over- and underestimations of ability progress with increasing experience completing a task. Prior research has demonstrated inconsistent effects when investigating the relationship between self-efficacy and performance at the within-person level of analysis, often theorizing distinct effects of over- versus underestimating one's ability level. Thus, the current study investigated the discrepancy between self-efficacy, one's belief in their capability to accomplish some task, and actual performance levels. The current study replicated findings that self-efficacy converges on performance over time and extended prior research by demonstrating the rate of convergence might be affected by the size of initial …

The Influence Of Team Prosocial Motivation On Emergent States And Shared Leadership, Tyree David Mitchell

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Despite the growing body of research on shared leadership, relatively little is known about the antecedents of shared leadership. The following study examined the effects of team prosocial motivation on team emergent states (i.e., team empowerment, psychological safety) and shared leadership. Drawing on motivational theories (e.g., self-determination theory), it was hypothesized that team empowerment and psychological safety would mediate the relationship between team prosocial motivation and shared leadership. Also, in line with the social identity and self-categorization perspectives, it was hypothesized that team surface-level diversity (racial diversity, gender diversity, faultline strength) would moderate the effects of team prosocial motivation on …

Relationship Among Motivation, Emotion Regulation, And Psychological Well-Being Of Sophomore And Senior Level Nursing Students, Aryene Delgado, Douglas Garner, Nicole Langhals

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Nursing education and professional work involve stressful circumstances that may lead to attrition, which can further contribute to the projected nursing shortage. This study examines the relationships between motivation, emotional regulation, psychological well-being and academic performance in baccalaureate sophomore and senior level nursing students at a Midwest urban university in the United States. The non-experimental, correlational study is guided by Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory and uses an online survey data collection and convenience sampling. Measures include: motivation, emotional regulation, psychological well-being (burnout; inauthenticity), and academic performance (GPA), and will be measured using Deci and Ryan’s scale, the Emotion Regulation …

Correcting Misconceptions About Gamification Of Assessment: More Than Sjts And Badges, Michael B. Armstrong, Jared Z. Ferrell, Andrew B. Collmus, Richard N. Landers

Psychology Faculty Publications

Describing the current state of gamification, Chamorro-Premuzic, Winsborough, Sherman, and Hogan () provide a troubling contradiction: They offer examples of a broad spectrum of gamification interventions, but they then summarize the entirety of gamification as “the digital equivalent of situational judgment tests.” This mischaracterization grossly oversimplifies a rapidly growing area of research and practice both within and outside of industrial–organizational (I-O) psychology. We agree that situational judgment tests (SJTs) can be considered a type of gamified assessment, and gamification provides a toolkit to make SJTs even more gameful. However, the term gamification refers to a much broader and potentially more …

Dispositional Employability And The Relationship To Career Success: A Meta-Analysis, Alisha M. Jasmer

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This meta-analysis focuses on the willingness to work aspect of the RAW model of employability of Hogan et al. (2009), in relationship to career success. Willingness to work (W) can be defined as favorably disposed to work hard and take initiative at one’s job. The variables I used to structure the W are proactive personality, conscientiousness, work ethic, job involvement, adaptability, and ambition.

I used the Hunter and Schmidt method to analyze the data applying a random effects model. All calculations were conducted in Excel. The overall sample consisted of 100 effect sizes (r) derived from 41 studies. The total …

An Investigation Into The Effect Of Power On Entrepreneurial Motivations, Jack Reed Durand

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The effects of power have been shown to exhibit a wide variety of effects on an individual's psychology. The present study explored power, as a form of resources control, and its effects on an individual's tendency to seek out entrepreneurship or entrepreneurial environments. According to various definitions of entrepreneurship, it can be argued that the process of entrepreneurship would represent a form of gathering power around oneself in the form of various resources. Attempts were made to determine whether a relationship existed between the experience power, and an individual's subsequent response to seeking entrepreneurial environments. The present study was able …

Challenge Accepted: Self-Enhancement Through The Pursuit Of Difficulty, Julie Anne Steinke

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Individual resilience is popular topic whereby researchers attempt to identify characteristics of individuals who react positively to stress. However, such research uses a reactionary approach, attempting to characterize successful individuals after they experience adversity and does not explain why some individuals proactively seek out challenging circumstances. Pursuing challenge is a new construct that explains why individuals proactively increase stress as a strategic mechanism for developmental purposes. I developed and validated a measurement tool for pursuing challenge in multiple studies. Additionally, I explored relationships between pursuing challenge and similar constructs (e.g., grit, proactive personality, and self-efficacy), as well as the extent …

The Impact Of Trainee Characteristics On Transfer Of Training Over Time, Kristina N. Bauer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Given that organizations invest a considerable amount of time and money into the training and development function, it is imperative that trainees transfer the learned material back to the job and continue to use the knowledge/skills. Yet, most studies have not assessed the transfer process over time (i.e., maintenance). Based on the lack of empirical investigation of maintenance, the current study had two goals: (1) to identify which factors are most important for skill maintenance (2) to identify when factors are most important to skill maintenance. To these ends, a model was developed and tested that examines the trainee characteristics …

The Measurement Of Motivation: Examining The Measurement Properties Of The Motivation Assessment System, Daniel Schmerling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated the Pritchard-Ashwood (P-A) Theory of Motivation (Pritchard & Ashwood, 2008) by examining a measure of P-A Theory labeled the Motivation Assessment System (MAS). P-A Theory combines prior motivation theories such as expectancy theory, goal setting theory, justice theory, and needs theory and consolidates them into one integrated theory of motivation. In essence, P-A theory posits that one’s motivation is determined by four perceptions, including the extent to which one believes: (a) his/her actions will lead to results, (b) his/her results will lead to positive evaluations, (c) his/her evaluations will lead to positive outcomes, and (d) his/her …

Effects Of Goal Orientation Profile Types On Organizational Outcoms In Veterinarians, Kathleen Arnold

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Goal orientation and work avoidance dimensions and profiles were studied in relationship to performance, satisfaction, self-efficacy, commitment and tenure. It was found that dimensions were the only significant predictors of satisfaction and self-efficacy. Still, there was evidence that the profiles were related to outcomes and, specifically, profiles were a stronger predictor of tenure. In addition, the dimension of work avoidance appears to provide additional information to the emerging profile types. These results provide important evidence of the emerging common goal orientation profile types. These groups were found to have different outcomes, most notably in performance and tenure. This research provides …

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between An Engineering Manager's Purpose-Seeking Beliefs And Behaviors And The Engineering Manager's Perception Of Employee Creativity, Initiative And Purpose-Seeking Behavior, Charles Burton Daniels

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Organizations have placed an overwhelming emphasis on extrinsic motivation of its workforce, normally in the form of financial incentives, in an attempt to assure individual and organizational high performance. While a significant level of financial resources is expended in this attempt to predict and influence employee behavior, no objective evidence exists of a favorable return of investment. In fact, the primary impact of most extrinsic motivation might actually be demotivation – the opposite of the intended use.

In this research the prevailing literature was examined and a conclusion about the power of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation was synthesized to …

Weiser Carrots And Sticks: Motivation Beyond Money At The Shakedown Café, Julian A. Martinez

CMC Senior Theses

It is generally assumed that monetary incentivization is the most effective means of motivating organizationally-beneficial behaviors. Individuals, under this line of thought, pursue their own objective self-interest above all else. However, evidence is being uncovered that indicates that human motivation may be a much more complicated facet of the human psyche. The purpose of this study is to examine the deeper underpinnings that drive people work that might lie beyond financial rewards. In order to do this, the Shakedown Café, a student-run restaurant on Pitzer College’s campus, will be examined. This specific organization is of particular interest because it does …

Stability And Change In Goal Orientation And Their Relationship With Performance: Testing Density Distributions Using Latent Trait-State Models, Michael Charles Mihalecz

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Goal orientation has been proposed to influence a number of training and work outcomes. However, results have been inconsistent and predicted relationships are weaker than anticipated (Payne, Youngcourt & Beaubien, 2007). Weak findings may be due to inconsistencies in how goal orientation is conceptualized and operationalized (DeShon & Gillespie, 2005; Grant & Dweck, 2003; Kaplan & Maehr, 2007). One such inconsistency is the treatment of goal orientation as a stable trait or a malleable state. Issues of state-versus-trait have long fueled the person-situation debate in personality psychology. Fleeson (2001) offered a solution for integrating the two theoretical perspectives called the …

Effects Of Regulatory Focus And Counterfactual Thought On Goal Pursuit In Achievement Settings : A Social Cognitive Perspective, Jessica Michelle Nicklin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The primary goal of this study was to examine cognitive and dispositional factors that may influence self-regulated motivation from the perspective of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT: Bandura, 1986, 1989, 2002). In particular, this study examined the potential moderating effects of regulatory focus (Higgins, 1997) and counterfactual thought (Roese, 1994) on the feedback - goal revision relationship. In a sample of 297 college students, the results showed that feedback, whether based on a standard of performance or self-set goals was a strong predictor of goal level set by participants. Individuals with negative discrepancies engaged in more positive discrepancy creation than individual …

Role Of Assigned Team Goals In The Relationship Between Individual Difference Factors And Self-Set Goals In A Pre-Team Context, Anupama Narayan

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of individual difference factors, i.e., core self evaluations, cognitive ability, and task specific self-efficacy, on self-set goals and whether those effects were moderated by an assigned team goal in a pre-team context. It was hypothesized that the relationship between individual difference factors and self-set goals for potential team members would be differentially affected by the difficulty of the assigned team goal. I assessed these relationships for individual performance and individual satisfaction. In addition, I examined whether gender, task type, and team composition interacted in their effects on self-set goals. …

Motivation And Performance In Computer Science: Test Of An Integrative Theory, Katherine A. Selgrade

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to design and empirically test a parsimonious integrative motivation theory. The theory integrates aspects of expectancy theory, social cognitive theory, goal-setting theory, and commitment theory. The theory was tested with 170 undergraduate, students in an introductory computer science (CS) course.

The study tested relationships among the following variables: CS self-efficacy, mathematics ability, affective commitment to the CS class, goal orientation, effort, and performance. The study also tested the interactive effects of effort and ability on performance. Structural equation modeling was used to test the measurement model and a series of nested structural models. Findings …

Proactive Personality And The Big Five As Predictors Of Motivation To Learn, Jonathan E. Turner

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

In an environment of changing psychological contracts, corporate downsizing, and increases in alternative self-paced training delivery channels, motivation to learn is believed to represent a key variable in employee self-development that distinguishes employees who will thrive from those who will not. Predicting this variable, then, becomes an important step in managing workforce development and helping employees help themselves. Therefore, the efficacy of relevant personality characteristics as predictors of motivation to learn was investigated. Proactive personality and the Big Five factors of personality were hypothesized to be predictive of motivation to learn. These personality variables are relevant because they have been …

Need Fulfilment, Leadership Styles And Effectiveness: A Study Of Two Indian Organisations, Reeta Mohan, Rajeev Mohan

IIMB Management Review

Need fulfilment of an individual in an organisation is very important, because the success of the organisation depends upon the level of motivation of its members, and the appropriateness of the leadership pattern in a particular situation. An extremely motivated group of employees can help the organisation sustain itself even in the worst environmental conditions. On the other hand, its success might be jeopardised if its employees are not motivated toward work. Working on the theory that the needs and values of the leaders may have considerable influence on the type of leadership behaviour they choose, and the fact that …

A Preliminary Study Of A Job Analytic Inventory Derived From A Behavioral Consistency Method For Assessing Intrinsic Motivation, William John Banis

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

The research question for this study asked if the Job Specifications Inventory (JSI) had acceptable internal reliability and an ability to differentiate among occupational groups. The JSI was designed to have subject matter experts rate the importance of skill, content, context, relationship and work focus requirements of jobs or occupations. The JSI used a taxonomy of 268 behavioral elements derived from the content analyses of satisfying achievements reported by a large, diverse clientele. A clinical-type behavioral consistency method was used to extract performance dimensions from clients' achievements to build the taxonomy. The achievement-based taxonomy was seen as potentially enhancing productivity …

A Perception Based Integrative Theory Of Individual Behavior In Organizations, John Edward Mathieu

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop an integrative theoretical approach to the study of individuals' behavior in organizations, and to present an application of the approach to understanding the performance of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets. Individuals' perceptions of the environment were proposed to exist at three levels of analysis: (1) psychological climate (i.e., individual); (2) group climate; and organizational climate. Further, climate perceptions were proposed to result from the simultaneous influence of objective (i.e., actual) situational characteristics, and individuals' needs and characteristics. The underlying dimensions that linked climate perceptions operationalized at the three levels of analysis …

An Attributional Analysis Of The Expectancy Component Of Motivation Theory, John Edward Mathieu

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Many modern work motivation theories are based at least in part on individuals’ subjective expectancies regarding successful job performance. However, the antecedent conditions and developmental process inherent in these formulations have yet to be specifies clearly. The present study utilizes the components of Social Learning Theory and Attribution Theory to examine these conditions in a laboratory setting. Experimental and correlational techniques were used to explore the relative contributions of both state and trait variables on causal attributions. Differences among causal attributions rated on relevance versus quantity were illustrated. Additionally, the underlying processes relating causal attributions, affective responses and future expectancy …

A Factor Analytic Comparison Of The Work Values Of Divergent Groups, Janette A. Hankins

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A new concept in motivation has recently been devised: that of work values. The Work Values Inventory (WVI) developed by Donald E. Super (1970) was used to test five hypotheses:

(1) The underlying work value structures of persons will not vary according to age;

(2) The underlying work value structures of persons will not vary according to sex;

(3) The underlying work value structures of persons will vary according to level (undergraduate, master's degree students, or post-master's degree);

(4) The underlying work value structures of college students will vary according to whether they are a psychology major or not;

(5) …