Understanding and shaping the future of work with self-determination theory

The association between social support and prosocial behavior: A three-level meta-analysis

Numerous studies have examined the relationship between social support and prosocial behavior and have concluded that social support is an important factor in generating prosocial behavior. However, different studies have produced different conclusions, and the moderating effect on the relationship is not entirely clear. The current study uses a three-level meta-analysis method to clarify the relationship between social support and prosocial behavior, and explores the moderating variables that affect the relationship between the two variables. Through a systematic literature search, a total of 92 studies, 418 effect sizes, and 74,378 participants were obtained. The main effects test found a significant positive correlation between social support and prosocial behavior. Tests of the moderating effects indicated that the relationship between social support and prosocial behavior was moderated by year of publication, source of social support, measurement of social support and measurement of prosocial behavior. In summary, social support plays an important role in prosocial behavior, and exploring their relationship is beneficial to families, schools and society in guiding individuals' prosocial behavior.

Facilitators and Barriers to Implementing High-Intensity Gait Training in Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation: A Mixed-Methods Study

(1) Background: High-intensity gait training (HIT) is a recommended intervention that improves walking function (e.g., speed and distance) in individuals who are undergoing stroke rehabilitation. This study explored clinicians' perceived barriers and facilitators to implementing HIT utilizing a mixed-methods approach comprising a survey and exploratory qualitative research. (2) Methods: Clinicians (n = 13) who were implementing HIT at three facilities participated. We collected and analyzed data using the consolidated framework for implementation research. Three focus groups were recorded and transcribed, and data were coded and thematically categorized. (3) Results: Survey results identified that the facilitators with a strong impact on implementation were access to knowledge/resources and intervention knowledge/beliefs. The only agreed-upon barrier with a strong impact was lack of tension for change. The focus groups resulted in 87 quotes that were coded into 27 constructs. Frequently cited outer setting facilitators were cosmopolitanism and peer pressure, and the only barrier was related to the patient needs. Innovation characteristics that were facilitators included relative advantage and design quality and packaging, and complexity was a barrier. Inner setting facilitators included networks and communication, learning climate, leadership engagement, and readiness for implementation. However, communication, leadership engagement, and available resources were also barriers. Regarding characteristics of individuals, knowledge and beliefs were both barriers and facilitators. In the implementation process domain, common facilitators were formally appointed implementation leaders and innovation participants. Barriers in this domain were related to the patients. (4) Conclusions: Clinicians identified many barriers and facilitators to implementing HIT that often varied between facilities. Further research is warranted to deepen our understanding of clinicians' experiences with HIT implementation.

Identifying Novel Inhibitors of Workplace Support and the Importance of Value Congruence and Feeling Valued in General Surgery Residency Training

OBJECTIVE

To explore residents' perceptions of workplace support inhibitors and their relationship to resident wellbeing. We aim to provide evidence-based targets to inform future work operationalizing support in surgical training.

DESIGN

This is a 2-part mixed-methods cross-sectional study. Part 1 analyzed qualitative data from focus groups (April 2021-May 2022). Part 2 comprised an online survey (informed by findings in Part 1, May 2022) to assess the association between perceived workplace support (e.g. feeling valued and value congruence) and poor individual global wellbeing (e.g. languishing).

SETTING

National multi-center study including 16 ACGME-accredited academic programs.

PARTICIPANTS

General surgery residents at all training levels, both clinical and research years.

RESULTS

28 residents participated in the focus groups which revealed three major themes around perceived inhibitors of workplace support: lack of trust in residency program (e.g. ulterior motives), poor communication from leadership (e.g. lack of transparency, ineffective dialogue), and unfair systems in residency training (e.g. exploitation of residents, paternal leave policies). These themes emphasized the importance of feeling valued and value congruence, with the latter reflected in the form of trust and communication with leadership, a key element of worker-workplace alignment. 251 residents responded to the survey (response rate 31%, 50.6% women) which revealed that a lower sense of feeling valued and lower perceived value congruence were significantly associated with languishing.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest feeling valued and value congruence (specifically, having trust and communication with leadership) are important targets for increasing workplace support in surgical training, offering evidence-based targets for future work to operationalize support in surgical training.

Self-Determination Theory and Workplace Outcomes: A Conceptual Review and Future Research Directions

Adaptive workplace outcomes, such as employee work engagement, job performance, and satisfaction are positively associated with physical and psychological well-being, while maladaptive workplace outcomes, including work-related disengagement, dissatisfaction, stress, boredom, fatigue, and burnout, are negatively associated with well-being. Researchers have applied self-determination theory to identify key motivational correlates of these adaptive work-related determinants and outcomes. Research applying the theory has consistently indicated that autonomous forms of motivation and basic psychological need satisfaction are related to better employee performance, satisfaction, and engagement, while controlled forms of motivation and need frustration are associated with increased employee burnout and turnover. Forms of motivation have also been shown to mediate relations between need satisfaction and adaptive workplace outcomes. Despite support for these associations, a number of limitations in research in the field have been identified, which place limits on the inferences that can be drawn. Noted limitations encompass an over-reliance on single-occasion, correlational data; few fit-for-purpose tests of theory mechanisms; and a lack of consideration of key moderating variables. In the current conceptual review, we discuss these limitations in turn, with specific reference to examples from the extant research applying the theory in workplace contexts, and provide a series of recommendations we expect will set the agenda for future studies applying the theory in the workplace. Based on our review, we make three key recommendations: we stress the need for studies adopting experimental and longitudinal designs to permit better inferences (i.e., causal and directional), highlight the need for intervention research to explicitly test mediation effects to provide evidence for theory mechanisms, and outline some candidate moderators of theory effects, including workplace context, job type, pay structure, and causality orientations. We expect these recommendations to set an agenda for future research applying self-determination theory in workplace contexts with a view to filling the current evidence gaps and improving evidential quality.

Experience shapes non-linearities between team behavioral interdependence, team collaboration, and performance in massively multiplayer online games

This paper examines quantitative predictors of team performance in Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) based on team management literature. Analyzing data from more than 140,000 squad-mode matches involving over 500,000 players, we replicate and extend existing research by confirming a curvilinear association between behavioral interdependence and team performance and introduce the moderating effect of experience. For less experienced teams, behavioral interdependence follows an inverted U-shaped pattern showing that excessive collaboration may be counterproductive. However, this is not the case for experienced teams, where the relationship is fairly linear. Additionally, we observe that riskier teams tend to perform worse. Moreover, our research also highlights the potential of e-sports data in advancing behavioral science and management research. The digital nature of e-sports datasets, characterized by size and granularity, mitigates concerns related to reproducibility, replicability, and generalizability in social science research, offering a cost-effective platform for scholars with diverse backgrounds.

Linking undergraduates' future work self and employability: a moderated mediation model

BACKGROUND

The career intentions of students play a crucial role in shaping the growth of the hospitality and tourism industry. Previous research underlines the significance of future work self in predicting outcomes related to one's career. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the precise ways, timing, and conditions under which the future work self of undergraduate students can enhance their employability.

METHODS

This paper aims to address the existing research gap by employing career construction theory and self-determination theory to propose a moderated mediation model-i.e., career exploration serves as a mediator and job market knowledge functions as a moderator in the relationship between future work self and employability. We conducted two independent studies (i.e., an experimental study and a time-lagged field study) to test the proposed model. Specifically, in Study 1 we employed an experimental research design to recruit 61 students majoring in tourism management to participate. They were randomly assigned to two scenarios (future work self: high vs. low), and we manipulated different levels of future work self by means of scenario descriptions. In Study 2, we used the time-lagged research design to collect data via submitting questionnaires among 253 Chinese undergraduates who majored in hospitality and tourism at a university in the middle area of China.

RESULTS

The results indicate a positive correlation between undergraduates' future work self and their employability. Furthermore, this relationship is mediated by a mediator of career exploration. It is important to note that this mediating relationship is also contingent upon the moderator variable of undergraduates' job market knowledge when considering the impact of career exploration on employability.

CONCLUSION

The findings contribute to enriching the current understanding of the positive effects of future work self on undergraduates' desirable outcomes in employability.

Evidence of validity and reliability of the controlling motivational style questionnaire in the work context

According to the self-determination theory (SDT), leaders may adopt a controlling motivational controlling style (CMS) that forces employees to think, feel, or behave in a certain way to promote employee motivation. However, a scale has yet to be developed to measure CMS in the work environment. Usually, researchers use questionnaires adapted to different contexts or designed for another motivational style. However, whether these questionnaires capture the behaviors that represent CMS in the work context is little known. This research aimed to elaborate on and analyze the validity and reliability of the questionnaire on Controlling Motivational Style at Work (CMS-W). The study was based on a literature review of the types of controlling behaviors and a review of questionnaires used by SDT researchers who assessed the controlling motivational style in different contexts. A Peruvian sample of 1100 public sector employees participated. The results show that the short and encompassing CMS-W-11 has a one-dimensional structure with good fit indices: Robust RMSEA = 0.071 with 90 % CI from 0.064 to 0.078; Robust CFI = 0.975; Robust TLI = 0.969; SRMR = 0.025 and good reliability coefficients: Ω = 0.930 and AVE 0.630. Furthermore, it shows convergent validity with controlled motivation (r = 0.260, p < .001) and discriminant validity with autonomous motivation (r = -0.270, p < .001). Moreover, the invariance of the gender category was tested. The fit indices were adequate, and the comparative results between the models were also satisfactory. In addition, the behaviors of the CMS in a work context are conditional negative regard, judging and devaluing, control through objectives, intimidation, and intrusive authority. Therefore, labor organizations will have the CMS-W validated and tested in a work context to evaluate the CMS of leaders and study how it related to the motivation of human capital and organizational objectives.

The blessing and curse of "no strings attached": An automated literature analysis of psychological health and non-attachmental work in the digitalization era

Amidst tremendous changes in the worlds of work in light of digitalization, non-attachmental work designs, where individuals gain income without being bound by a fixed administrative attachment to an employer, hold promises of self-actualization along with threats of insecurity. Today's technology boom and the consequent flexibility and uncertainty it brings into workers' lives may translate into inspiring growth opportunities or overloading pressure, contingent upon mental health and wellbeing impacts. This paper first provides a conceptualization of the non-attachmental work designs of the 21st century, before proceeding to an extensive mapping of literature at their intersection with psychological health. This involves a machine-learning-driven review of 1094 scientific articles using topic modeling, combined with in-depth manual content analyses and inductive-deductive cycles of pattern discovery and category building. The resulting scholarly blueprint reveals several tendencies, including a prevalence of positive psychology concepts in research on work designs with high levels of autonomy and control, contrasted with narratives of disempowerment in service- and task-based work. We note that some psychological health issues are researched with respect to specific work designs but not others, for instance neurodiversity and the role of gender in ownership-based work, self-image and digital addiction in content-based work, and ratings-induced anxiety in platform-mediated task-based work. We also find a heavy representation of 'heroic' entrepreneurs, quantitative methods, and western contexts in addition to a surprising dearth of analyses on the roles of policy and technological interventions. The results are positioned to guide academics, decision-makers, technologists, and workers in the pursuit of healthier work designs for a more sustainable future.

Development and Validation of the "Lying Flat" Tendency Scale for the Youth

In recent years, "lying flat" has been enthusiastically pursued by young people in China, and it is worth studying its cause and social impact. However, there is still a lack of measurement tools that can scientifically evaluate an individual's tendency for "lying flat." In this study, a 6-item "Lying Flat" Tendency Scale was developed and cross-validated for reliability and validity in different samples from China. The findings demonstrated that the scale showed good internal consistency in three different samples; both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis supported the single dimension model of the scale, indicating good construct validity; the LFTS total score was negatively correlated with the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, happiness index, and positive emotions, and was positively correlated with negative emotions; simultaneously, the LFTS total score was also significantly positively correlated with the choice of "lying flat" behavior in the simulated situation. These results show that the scale has good validity and reliability, and can be used as a measuring tool for subsequent empirical research. It will help to promote the development of empirical research on the phenomenon of "lying flat", help to understand the causes and consequences of "lying flat" more deeply, and also help to find effective ways to help young people break out of the "lying flat" dilemma.

Bullying in professional sports: psychological needs of athletes

BACKGROUND

This paper aimed to establish whether bullying in sports affects the satisfaction of such psychological needs as autonomy, competence, and relatedness in professional sports.

METHODS

The instruments in this work were the Bullying Participant Behaviors Questionnaire (BPBQ), the Motivational Mediators Scale in Sport (EMMD), and the Psychological Needs Thwarting Scale (PNTS). The participants were 708 professional athletes.

RESULTS

Comparison of EMMD and PNTS means unveiled that professional athletes with no bullying experience are more psychologically satisfied and less thwarted in all three dimensions (competence, autonomy, and relatedness). Among the group exposed to bullying, victims (18.92) and bullies (23.18) had the lowest needs in terms of competence, while bullies (26.14) and victims (20.10) experienced the lowest autonomy. The relatedness factor was most pronounced in victims' defenders (34.06) and least in victims (16.39). The lowest competence thwarting was found for outsiders and defenders, and the highest - among victims of bullying (18.12). But both bullies and their helpers had significantly higher scores than the other two roles. The need for autonomy, in turn, was least thwarted in outsiders and defenders, and most - in victims, as in the case of the relatedness subscale.

CONCLUSIONS

The practical and scientific value of this work stem from the fact that it proves the negative impact of bullying on the satisfaction of basic psychological needs. The obtained findings can facilitate the development and implementation of updated educational programs and practices, leadership systems, as well as be conducive to the work of sports psychologists.

Operationalizing the Culture of Burnout and Well-Being: Multicenter Study of Value Congruence and Flourishing in General Surgery Residency

BACKGROUND

Value congruence (VC) is the degree of alignment between worker and workplace values and is strongly associated with reduced job strain and retention. Within general surgery residency, the impact of VC and how to operationalize it to improve workplace well-being remain unclear.

STUDY DESIGN

This 2-part mixed-methods study comprised 2 surveys of US general surgery residents and qualitative interviews with program directors. In Part 1, January 2021, mixed-level surgical residents from 16 ACGME-accredited general surgery residency programs participated in survey #1. This survey was used to identify shared or conflicting perspectives on VC concerning well-being initiatives and resources. In April 2021, interviews from 8 institutions were conducted with 9 program directors or their proxies. In Part 2, May to June 2022, a similar cohort of surgical residents participated in survey #2. Unadjusted logistic and linear regression models were used in this survey to assess the association between VC and individual-level global well-being (ie flourishing), respectively.

RESULTS

In survey #1 (N = 300, 34% response rate), lack of VC was an emergent theme with subthemes of inaccessibility, inconsiderateness, inauthenticity, and insufficiency regarding well-being resources. Program directors expressed variable awareness of and alignment with these perceptions. In survey #2 (N = 251, 31% response rate), higher VC was significantly associated with flourishing (odds ratio 1.91, 95% CI 1.44 to 2.52, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Exploring the perceived lack of VC within general surgery residency reveals an important cultural variable for optimizing well-being and suggests open dialogue as a first step toward positive change. Future work to identify where and how institutional actions diminish perceived VC is warranted.

Investigating the effect of intelligent assistance systems on motivational work characteristics in assembly

Intelligent assistance systems (IAS) are designed to counteract rising cognitive demands caused by increasingly individualized manufacturing processes in assembly. How IAS affect work characteristics which are crucial for promoting work motivation of employees is yet unclear. Based on the cyber-physical systems transformation framework, the model of routine-biased technological change, and a comprehensive model of work design, we expected in- and decreases in motivational work characteristics (MWC) when working with IAS. Furthermore, we posited a buffering effect of the option of voluntary use on decreasing knowledge characteristics. Applying an online case study with experimental vignette methodology (EVM) allowed us to identify effects of the IAS on MWC before it is widely implemented. 203 German and British blue-collar workers evaluated an assembly workplace according to three experimental conditions (work without IAS, work with IAS, work with voluntary use of IAS). We identified enhanced feedback from the job and information processing in work with IAS in contrast to a traditional assembly workplace but found no restrictions (or elevations) in terms of other task (i.e., autonomy) or knowledge characteristics (i.e., job complexity, problem solving, specialization, skill variety). Thus, our results indicate that the IAS improves some motivational work characteristics of the assembly workplace, although it misses the primary goal of cognitive relief. Our study highlights the need for work design theories that specify the effect of IAS on motivational work characteristics and the potential benefit of IAS in assembly of the future.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10845-023-02086-4.

Qualitative motivation with sets and relations

In self-determination theory (SDT), multiple conceptual regulations of motivation are posited. These forms of motivation are especially qualitatively viewed by SDT researchers, and there are situations in which combinations of these regulations occur. In this article, instead of the commonly used numerical approach, this is modeled more versatilely by sets and relations. We discuss discrete mathematical models from the theory of knowledge spaces for the combinatorial conceptualization of motivation. Thereby, we constructively add insight into a dispute of opinions on the unidimensionality vs. multidimensionality of motivation in SDT literature. The motivation order derived in our example, albeit doubly branched, was approximately a chain, and we could quantify the combinatorial details of that approximation. Essentially, two combinatorial dimensions reducible to one were observed, which could be studied in other more popular scales as well. This approach allows us to define the distinct, including even equally informative, gradations of any regulation type. Thus, we may identify specific forms of motivation that may otherwise be difficult to measure or not be separable empirically. This could help to dissolve possible inconsistencies that may arise in applications of the theory in distinguishing the different regulation types. How to obtain the motivation structures in practice is demonstrated by relational data mining. The technique applied is an inductive item tree analysis, an established method of Boolean analysis of questionnaires. For a data set on learning motivation, the motivation spaces and co-occurrence relations for the gradations of the basic regulation types are extracted, thus, enumerating their potential subforms. In that empirical application, the underlying models were computed within each of the intrinsic, identified, introjected, and external regulations, in autonomous and controlled motivations, and the entire motivation domain. In future studies, the approach of this article could be employed to develop adaptive assessment and training procedures in SDT contexts and for dynamical extensions of the theory, if motivational behavior can go in time.

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Expatriate Performance in International Construction Projects

Purpose

In the field of construction, it has been shown that individuals with higher emotional intelligence may perform better on the job. However, it is still a question worth exploring about how emotional intelligence affects expatriate performance in international construction projects. Therefore, this study aimed to verify the relationship between expatriates' emotional intelligence and expatriate performance and explore the mediating role of self-efficacy and psychological resilience.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2021. A non-probability sampling method was used to obtain data. A total of 315 Chinese construction expatriates in 67 countries and regions around the world were evaluated using four scales: the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Connor-Davidson Resilience scale, and the Kraimer's expatriate's performance scale. The hypothesis model was tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).

Results

The results of the data analysis indicated that self-efficacy (β_{Indirect effect} = 0.175, p<0.05) and psychological resilience (β_{Indirect effect} = 0.112, p<0.05) served as fully mediating variables (β _{Direct effect} = 0.177, p=0.101), suggesting a way to explain how emotional intelligence affect the performance of contractor expatriates. The findings also suggest that self-efficacy and psychological resilience also play continuous and multiple mediating roles (β_{Indirect effect} = 0.143, p<0.05) between emotional intelligence and expatriate performance.

Conclusion

This study attempted to investigate the mechanism of emotional intelligence's influence on expatriate performance from the perspective of individual psychological resources. The results of the study suggest that the emotional intelligence of expatriates may bring about an increase in performance levels by improving self-efficacy and psychological resilience levels. This provides a practical way to improve the performance of expatriates and a new management perspective for human resource management in international construction projects.

Psychological Empowerment and Job Stress in Higher Education Institutions in Ecuador

Purpose

Both psychological empowerment and job stress have been the subjects of great concern, studied mainly in developed countries. In emerging economies, few studies have contributed to the knowledge of the relationship between these two constructs. This study analyzed the relationship between the dimensions of psychological empowerment and job stress in tenured professors from public higher education institutions in Ecuador during 2019, providing insights for achieving better results regarding the productivity and well-being of teachers. This research seeks to bridge the knowledge gap concerning psychological empowerment and job stress within an academic context in an emerging economy.

Methods

In this quantitative study, a confirmatory model was proposed. Correlation analysis was used to investigate whether psychological empowerment dimensions are related to job stress. Data were collected from a sample of 200 tenured professors working at public universities located in Zone 3 of Ecuador in 2019. The instrument applied for psychological empowerment was proposed by Spreitzer, composed of four dimensions—meaning, competence, impact, and autonomy. For job stress, the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised (OSI-R) instrument applied was proposed and revised by Osipow.

Results

Through structural equation modeling with partial least squares, it was possible to demonstrate that psychological empowerment reduces levels of job stress only when it is perceived that there is autonomy, fewer limitations, and more freedom. No evidence was identified that other components of psychological empowerment, such as meaning, competence, and impact, are related to job stress.

Conclusion

The results indicated that the model used to explain the relationship between these variables had weak predictive power. Furthermore, only one research hypothesis is accepted. Finally, these findings are corroborated and explained by the different perspectives presented by various authors.

Organisational support and teachers’ performance: The moderating role of job crafting

Orientation: Teachers fulfil an essential role in students’ learning and the prosperity of nations. Hence, teacher performance, and the determinants thereof, are vital to understand.Research purpose: To extend the conversation on teacher performance in a non-WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialised and democratic) nation, the authors aimed to investigate potential factors that may influence teachers’ performance, specifically from the perspective of perceived organisational support (POS) and job crafting.Motivation for the study: Due to the widespread impact of teacher performance and the potential of both POS and job crafting to enable it, it is valuable to investigate the collective effect of these variables on individual work performance.Research approach/design and method: This quantitative cross-sectional study involved 207 teachers conveniently sampled from private educational organisations in Gauteng. The Survey of Perceived Organisational Support, Job Crafting Questionnaire and an Individual Work Performance Subscale were administered to assess the study variables. Structural equation modelling was employed to confirm the dimensionality of the scales, followed by moderation analysis for hypothesis testing.Main findings: The results of the moderation analysis showed that the effect of POS on teachers’ performance is conditional upon teachers’ job crafting behaviours in the organisation. More specifically, organisational support matters for teachers’ performance but only for those with low to moderate levels of job crafting.Practical/managerial implications: Organisations could implement interventions to enhance teachers’ perceptions of support from the organisation to improve their performance. Simultaneously, organisations can invest in interventions that teach teachers to craft their jobs and create organisational environments that foster job crafting behaviours.Contribution/value-add: The study contributes to the limited body of literature on teachers’ performance in a developing context and literature on organisational support and job crafting.

A Conceptual Model of Nurses' Turnover Intention

The World Health Organisation predicts a lack of 15 million health professionals by 2030. The lack of licenced professionals is a problem that keeps emerging and is carefully studied on a global level. Strategic objectives aimed at stimulating employment, improving working conditions, and keeping the nurses on board greatly depends on identifying factors that contribute to their turnover. The aim of this study was to present a conceptual model based on predictors of nurses' turnover intention. Methods: A quantitative, non-experimental research design was used. A total of 308 registered nurses (RNs) took part in the study. The Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale (MWMS) and Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) were used. Results: The conceptual model, based on the binary regression models, relies on two direct significant predictors and four indirect significant predictors of turnover intention. The direct predictors are job satisfaction (OR = 0.23) and absenteeism (OR = 2.5). Indirect predictors that affect turnover intention via job satisfaction are: amotivation (OR = 0.59), identified regulation (OR = 0.54), intrinsic motivation (OR = 1.67), and nurse manager ability, leadership and support of nurses (OR = 1.51). Conclusions: The results of the study indicate strategic issues that need to be addressed to retain the nursing workforce. There is a need to ensure positive perceptions and support from managers, maintain intrinsic motivation, and promote even higher levels of motivation to achieve satisfactory levels of job satisfaction.