Summary Work, Motivation and Health - 1st exam (7202BA03XY)
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Course
Work, Motivation and Health (7202BA03XY)
Institution
Universiteit Van Amsterdam (UvA)
This summary contains the following articles:
Aamodt (2016) – Chapter 9: Employee motivation
Houdmont & Leka (2010) – An introduction to occupational health psychology
Kahneman et al. (2006) – would you be happier if you were richer?
Judge et al. (2010) - The relationship between pay and...
Table of Contents
Week 1 ..................................................................................................................................................... 2
Readings for lecture 1............................................................................................................................. 2
Aamodt (2016) – Chapter 9: Employee motivation .................................................................................................... 2
Houdmont & Leka (2010) – An introduction to occupational health psychology ......................................... 9
Lecture 1.................................................................................................................................................... 12
Readings for lecture 2........................................................................................................................... 13
Kahneman et al. (2006) – would you be happier if you were richer? ...............................................................13
Judge et al. (2010) - The relationship between pay and job satisfaction .........................................................14
Gerhart (2014) – Pay for (individual) performance .................................................................................................15
Jenkins et al. (1998) – Are financial incentives related to performance? ........................................................17
Vohs et al. (2006) – The psychological consequences of money .........................................................................18
Lecture 2.................................................................................................................................................... 19
Week 2 ...................................................................................................................................................20
Cerasoli et al. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: A
40-year meta-analysis. ...........................................................................................................................................................24
Gagne & Deci (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. .........................................................29
Podsakoff et al. (2010). Dispelling misconceptions and providing guidelines for leader reward and
punishment behavior. ............................................................................................................................................................20
Lecture 3.................................................................................................................................................... 34
Blue = concept
Orange = lecture
Green = note
Purple = example
1
, Week 1
Readings for lecture 1
Aamodt (2016) – Chapter 9: Employee motivation
Work motivation: the internal force that drives a worker to action as well as the external factors
that encourage that action. Where ability and skill determine whether a worker can do the job,
motivation determines whether the worker will do it properly.
The theories discussed in this chapter will try to address why one
employee directs a higher percentage of her effort to work than does
another employee as well as why employees direct their energies to
certain work tasks but not others.
Different methods are used to measure behaviors that imply high
motivation. There are problems related to the use of behaviors to imply
motivation, for example employees might be motivated, but lack skill or
ability. However, increased worker motivation often results in increased
job performance.
Various theories (discussed in this chapter) suggest that
employees will be highly motivated if:
• They have a personality that predisposes them to
be motivated
• Their expectations have been met
• The job and the organization are consistent with
their values
• The employees have been given achievable goals
• The employees receive feedback on their goal attainment
• The organization rewards them for achieving their goals
• The employees perceive they are being treated fairly
• Their coworkers demonstrate a high level of motivation.
Is an employee predisposed to being motivated?
Four individual differences that are most related to work
motivation: (1) personality, (2) self-esteem, (3) an intrinsic
motivation tendency, and (4) need for achievement.
1. Personality
Several of the Big 5 dimensions are related to
behaviors suggesting high levels of motivation.
Conscientiousness is the best personality predictor of
work performance, organizational citizenship behavior
(OCB), and academic performance. Stability is most associated with salary and setting
high goals. Extraversion is most highly correlated with the number of promotions
received.
2. Self-esteem
Self-esteem: the extent to which a person views himself as valuable and worthy. Self-
esteem is someone’s global self-evaluation. When people have high-self-esteem they (1)
are less influenced by others, (2) are more persistent, (3) often engage in more logical
thinking. According to the consistency theory, employees will be motivated to perform at
levels consistent with their levels of self-esteem.
There are three levels of self-esteem:
a. Chronic self-esteem: a person’s overall feeling about himself
b. Situational self-esteem (self-efficacy): a person’s feeling about himself in a particular
situation
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, c. Socially influenced self-esteem: how a person feels about himself on the basis of the
expectations of others.
Organizations can increase self-esteem or self-efficacy
(which in turn lead to increased performance) in three
ways:
a. Self-esteem workshops
Employees are given insights into their strengths,
which should raise self-esteem. Increasing an
employees’ positive evaluation of themselves.
b. Experience with success
Employees are given a task so easy that they will almost
certainly succeed, which should increase self-esteem
and subsequently performance. Self-fulfilling prophecy:
the idea that people behave in ways consistent with
their self-image. If an employee believes he will always fail,
the only way to break the vicious cycle is to ensure that he
performs well on a task. This relationship between self-
expectations and performance is called the Galatea effect
(when high self-expectations result in higher levels of
performance).
c. Supervisor behavior
Supervisors are trained to communicate a feeling of confidence in an employee.
Pygmalion effect: the idea that if people believe that something is true, they will act
in a manner consistent with that belief. This effect greatly influences performance.
Golem effect: when negative expectations of an individual cause a decrease in that
individual’s performance.
3. Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation: work motivation in the absence of external factors such as pay,
promotion, and coworkers. Rewards might actually reduce intrinsic motivation and
satisfaction. It is what drives an individual from within.
Extrinsic motivation: work motivation that arises from nonpersonal factors such as pay,
coworkers, and opportunities for advancement.
Work Preference inventory (WPI): a measure of an individual’s orientation toward
intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation.
4. Needs for achievement and power
Employees differ in the extent to which they are
motivate by the need for achievement, affiliation, and
power. McClelland (1961). Need for achievement: extent
to which a person desires to be successful. Need for
affiliation: extent to which a person desires to be around
other people. Need for power: extent to which a person
desires to be in control of other people. Particularly someone’s need
for achievement has been shown to be associated with motivational
aspects.
Are employees effectively involved in self-regulating behavior?
Self-regulation is a person’s ability to select, set, and modify goals to adapt to changing
conditions. Self-regulation is a four-step process in which people:
1. Choose their goals and set levels for each goal
2. Plan how they will accomplish those goals
3. Take action toward accomplishing the goals (goal striving)
4. Evaluate progress toward goal attainment and either maintain, revise, or abandon a goal
Employees have many goals, some of which are complex and some might compete with other
goals. The extent to which an employee will be successful depends on the employee’s ability to
wisely select and set goals as well as his or her ability to monitor and adjust goals.
3
, Have the employee’s values and expectations been met?
The extent to which we might select a work goal and apply energy toward that goal is influenced
by the discrepancy between what we want, value, and expect and what the job actually provides.
Potential discrepancies between what employees want and what the job gives them affect how
motivated and satisfied employees will be with their jobs
Job expectations
A discrepancy between what an employee expected a job to be like and the reality of the job can
affect motivation and satisfaction. Employees compare what the organization promised to do
for them with what the organization actually does. If the organization does less than it
promised, employees will be less motivated to perform well and will retaliate by doing less than
they promised. Thus: it is important that applicants are given a realistic job preview (RJP): a
method of recruitment in which job applicants are told both the positive and negative aspects of
a job.
Job characteristics
According to job characteristics theory: employees desire
jobs that are meaningful, provide them with the
opportunity to be personally responsible for the outcome
of their work (autonomy), and provide them with
feedback of the results of their efforts. If there is a
discrepancy between the extent to which a job provides
these three outcomes and an employee’s need for these
outcomes, the employee will be less motivated.
Think of Herzberg’s two-factor model. Certain
characteristics within a job make a job more or less
satisfying depending on the needs of the employee.
According to job characteristics theory, jobs will have motivation potential if they allow
employees to use a variety of skills (skill variety) and to connect their efforts to an outcome
(task identification) that has meaning, is useful, or is appreciated by coworkers as well as by
others in society (task significance).
Needs, values, and wants
A discrepancy between an employee’s needs, values, and
wants and what a job offers can also lead to low levels of
motivation and satisfaction. Three theories focus on
employees’ needs and values: Maslow’s needs hierarchy,
ERG (existence, relatedness, and growth) theory, and two-
factor theory.
Maslow’s needs hierarchy
Maslow believed that employees would be motivated by and satisfied with their jobs at any
given point in time if certain needs were met.
1. Basic biological needs (physical): concerns the survival needs for food, air, water and
shelter
2. Safety needs: concerns the need for security, stability, and physical safety.
3. Social needs: concerns the need to interact with other people
4. Ego needs: concerns the individual’s need for recognition and success
5. Self-actualization needs: concerns the need to realize one’s potential
There are three potential problems with the theory:
1. There might be less than 5 levels
2. Some people do not progress up the hierarchy as Maslow suggests they do
3. When the needs at one level are satisfied, the next needs level does not always become
most important
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