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How Colleagues Can Support Each Other’s Needs and Motivation : An Intervention on Employee Work Motivation

Jungert, Tomas LU ; van den Broeck, Anja ; Schreurs, Bert and Osterman, Ulla (2018) In Applied Psychology p.3-29
Abstract
Organisations have flattened and increasingly rely on teamwork. Therefore, colleagues play an increasingly important role in stimulating employee motivation. Adopting Self-Determination Theory as a guiding framework, the aim of this field experiment was to examine whether team members can be trained in supporting each other's basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness and, hence, increase each other's need satisfaction and autonomous motivation, while decreasing controlled motivation. We delivered training to 146 participants nested in 26 participating teams and assessed basic need satisfaction and autonomous and controlled motivation before and after the intervention. Multilevel regression analyses indicated that... (More)
Organisations have flattened and increasingly rely on teamwork. Therefore, colleagues play an increasingly important role in stimulating employee motivation. Adopting Self-Determination Theory as a guiding framework, the aim of this field experiment was to examine whether team members can be trained in supporting each other's basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness and, hence, increase each other's need satisfaction and autonomous motivation, while decreasing controlled motivation. We delivered training to 146 participants nested in 26 participating teams and assessed basic need satisfaction and autonomous and controlled motivation before and after the intervention. Multilevel regression analyses indicated that employees in the experimental (i.e. intervention) condition had a stronger increase in need satisfaction and autonomous motivation than employees did in the control condition, and that the increase in autonomous motivation was mediated by an increase in need satisfaction. This study provides added value for theory on need satisfaction and demonstrates that a relatively brief intervention among team members may be effective in creating employee need support and increasing autonomous motivation. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Applied Psychology
pages
3 - 29
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85038880970
ISSN
0269-994X
DOI
10.1111/apps.12110
project
A cross-cultural study of organizational factors that promote work motivation, flow and occupational self-efficacy among coworkers
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ac1d0131-1c2b-4f10-89d2-e12f9e178d1f
date added to LUP
2017-08-23 13:33:31
date last changed
2023-11-17 03:15:53
@article{ac1d0131-1c2b-4f10-89d2-e12f9e178d1f,
  abstract     = {{Organisations have flattened and increasingly rely on teamwork. Therefore, colleagues play an increasingly important role in stimulating employee motivation. Adopting Self-Determination Theory as a guiding framework, the aim of this field experiment was to examine whether team members can be trained in supporting each other's basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness and, hence, increase each other's need satisfaction and autonomous motivation, while decreasing controlled motivation. We delivered training to 146 participants nested in 26 participating teams and assessed basic need satisfaction and autonomous and controlled motivation before and after the intervention. Multilevel regression analyses indicated that employees in the experimental (i.e. intervention) condition had a stronger increase in need satisfaction and autonomous motivation than employees did in the control condition, and that the increase in autonomous motivation was mediated by an increase in need satisfaction. This study provides added value for theory on need satisfaction and demonstrates that a relatively brief intervention among team members may be effective in creating employee need support and increasing autonomous motivation.}},
  author       = {{Jungert, Tomas and van den Broeck, Anja and Schreurs, Bert and Osterman, Ulla}},
  issn         = {{0269-994X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{3--29}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Applied Psychology}},
  title        = {{How Colleagues Can Support Each Other’s Needs and Motivation : An Intervention on Employee Work Motivation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/apps.12110}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/apps.12110}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}