The relationship between employee motivation and psychological health at work: A chicken-and-egg situation?

Although employee motivation and psychological health at work have been found to be related, it remains unclear whether motivation precedes psychological health or vice versa, and to which extent different manifestations of mental health relate to different forms of motivation at work. Using the self-determination theory and the bidimensional theory of psychological health, this complete panel design study tested the directionality of the relationship between motivation at work and psychological health at work, with a dedicated focus on the specific predictive patterns observed between 4 types of motivation at work and positive and negative indicators of psychological health at work. Eight hundred and five Canadian workers completed questionnaires at 2 times, separated by a 6-month interval. Structural equation modelling analyses indicated that only identified regulation and psychological well-being at work have a fully reciprocal relationship. Only psychological well-being at work was positively associated with the 3 most self-determined types of motivation at work 6 months later, and only identified regulation predicted psychological health at work after 6 months. External regulation was unrelated to all indicators of psychological health at work over time. By integrating 2 theoretical frameworks, this study clarified the relationships between psychological health at work and motivation at work over time.     

Job crafting and well-being among school principals: The role of basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration

This study investigates the associations between school principals’ job crafting and well-being. Drawing on the job demands-resources approach of the job crafting model and self-determination theory, we hypothesized that need satisfaction and need frustration act as likely mechanisms between the positive and negative effects of job crafting behaviors and work-related well-being (work engagement and burnout). Using cross-sectional data collected from a sample of Finnish school principals (n = 518), our structural equation model revealed that crafting structural job resources was positively associated with need satisfaction and negatively with need frustration. Increasing challenge job demands was positively associated with need satisfaction, which, in turn, was associated with higher work-related well-being. In addition, crafting structural job resources was directly positively linked to burnout as well as work engagement. Moreover, we found that decreasing hindrance demands was positively associated with burnout and negatively associated with work engagement via need frustration. No associations were found between crafting social resources, indicators of basic psychological needs, or work-related well-being. These findings provide insights into how principals determine their own basic psychological needs via job crafting, and how this is reflected in their work-related well-being. The study advances job crafting theory and self-determination theory, with important implications for practice and future research.     

On the psychological and motivational processes linking job characteristics to employee functioning: Insights from self-determination theory

The aim of this study was to provide insight into the differential relationships between job characteristics (job demands and resources) and employee functioning by examining the psychological and motivational processes involved. Drawing on self-determination theory, we tested a model in which job demands are positively related to negative manifestations of employee functioning (psychological distress and psychosomatic complaints) through psychological need frustration and low-quality work motivation (controlled motivation), whereas job resources are positively related to positive manifestations of employee functioning (work engagement and job performance) through need satisfaction and high-quality work motivation (autonomous motivation). Data were collected from 699 Canadian nurses. Structural equation modelling (SEM) results support the proposed model: psychological needs and work motivation partially mediated the relationship between job characteristics and employee functioning. Specifically, job demands negatively predicted employee functioning (high distress and psychosomatic complaints, low engagement and performance) through need frustration and controlled motivation. In contrast, while positively predicting need satisfaction and negatively predicting need frustration, job resources fostered optimal work motivation (more autonomous and less controlled motivation) and employee functioning. The implications for self-determination theory (SDT) and research on occupational health and stress are discussed.     

Work-related boredom and depressed mood from a daily perspective: the moderating roles of work centrality and need satisfaction

This study aimed to advance insight into inter- and intrapersonal processes that may affect the associations between work-related boredom and employee well-being. We employed a daily perspective to examine (1) the relations between work-related boredom and depressed mood at the end of the workday and at the end of the evening after work; (2) whether these relations were stronger for employees with high work centrality (the importance of work to the individual); and (3) whether the indirect association between work-related boredom and depressed mood in the evening (via depressed mood at the end of the workday) was smaller on days during which employees’ basic psychological needs were satisfied after work. Data were collected by means of a 5-day diary study among 106 employees in various occupations in The Netherlands. The results showed that work-related boredom was positively related to both depressed mood at the end of the workday and depressed mood in the evening, but only for employees with high work centrality. Furthermore, daily need satisfaction after work mitigated the indirect relation between work-related boredom and depressed mood in the evening. Based on these findings it can be concluded that work centrality and need satisfaction should be taken into account in order to understand the association between work-related boredom and employee well-being.     

Transformational leadership and optimal functioning at work: On the mediating role of employees' perceived job characteristics and motivation

This study aimed to deepen our understanding of the motivational mechanisms involved in the relationship between transformational leadership (TFL) and employee functioning. Drawing on the TFL literature, the job demands–resources model and self-determination theory, we propose an integrative model that relates TFL to employee psychological health (burnout and psychological distress), attitudes (occupational commitment and turnover intention) and performance (professional efficacy, self-reported individual and objective organizational performance) through two explanatory mechanisms: perceived job characteristics (job demands and resources) and employee motivation (autonomous and controlled). This research was conducted in two occupational settings (nurses and school principals), using a distinct variable operationalization for each. Results of both studies provide support for the hypothesized model, suggesting that TFL relates to optimal job functioning (psychological health, job attitudes and performance) by contributing to favourable perceptions of job characteristics (more resources and less demands) and high-quality work motivation (more autonomous motivation and less controlled motivation) in employees. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications as well as directions for future research are presented.     

The impact of a participatory organizational intervention on job stress in community health care institutions

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a short-term participatory intervention in health care institutions in Norway on workers' control, other job characteristics, job stress, subjective health and job satisfaction. Participants (including managers and supervisors) were randomly allocated to intervention groups and to a control group. Actions to solve problems based on the employees' own perceptions of the main problems were seen as the key motivators for organizational improvement and increased control at the task and office level in the work situation. The main stressors identified by the participants in this study were lack of information, communication and respect between professions, as well as the need for professional and personal development. The participatory intervention had a positive, but limited effect on work-related stress, job characteristics, learning climate and management style, and seemed to have started a beneficial change process. There were no negative short-term effects on work-related stress and job demands. Organizational interventions may be a potential training ground for acquiring participatory skills and resources, and if sustained after the intervention period, they can have long-term effects on problem solving, job stress and employee satisfaction.     

Job demands and work-related psychological responses among Malaysian technical workers: The moderating effects of self-efficacy

Abstract

Job design has long been found to affect the work-related psychological responses of employees, such as psychological strain, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions, but scholars have begun to question whether established theoretical relations regarding job design continue to hold given the enormous changes in the nature of work during the past two decades. It is also increasingly recognized that individual differences affect work behaviours in substantial ways, but few studies on work design have investigated these differences. We addressed these concerns with a two-wave longitudinal study among 245 technical workers at a telecommunications company in Malaysia, a country that has a collectivist culture and a high power distance between managers and subordinates. We examined the moderating effects of job control and self-efficacy on the relationships between job demands and employee responses. The results failed to support the job demands-control model, as job control variables did not moderate the impact of demands on employee work-related psychological responses. However, self-efficacy moderated their impact on psychological strain (although not on job satisfaction or turnover intentions). Our findings provide insight into the moderating effect of self-efficacy, and suggest that practitioners interested in reducing psychological strain should consider making efforts to increase self-efficacy among employees.     

Motivating deference: Employees' perception of authority legitimacy as a mediator of supervisor motivating styles and employee work-related outcomes

The two studies presented here examine the extent to which perceived authority legitimacy mediates the association between supervisors' motivating styles and subordinates' work-related outcomes. From the perspective of the self-determination theory (SDT), we examined two supervisory motivating styles: the autonomy-supportive style that nurtures employees' inner motivational resources and the controlling style in which supervisors pressure their employees to behave in specific manager-directed ways. Perceived authority legitimacy was defined according to the Relational Model of Authority (RMA). The results of Study 1 (n?=?191) showed that the autonomy-supportive motivating style, but not the controlling style, was associated with employees' work satisfaction, commitment, and burnout through legitimacy. These results were replicated in Study 2 (n?=?314), even after controlling for task-autonomous and controlled motivation, and extended to other reported employee behavioral outcomes such as organizational citizenship behavior, deviant behavior, and conflicts within the workplace. Taken together, the results suggest that the effectiveness of the autonomy-supportive motivating style is partly due to its association with volitional deference to authority. The paper concludes by discussing theoretical implications of integrating SDT with RMA and the practical implications of the findings.     

Organizational change, health, and sick leave among health care employees: A longitudinal study measuring stress markers, individual, and work site factors

This controlled longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the effects of organizational change on employees' self-reported health, work satisfaction, work-related exhaustion, stress, and sick leave. The population consisted of 226 employees at T1 and 198 at T2, divided into a study group affected by organizational changes, and a reference group not affected by them. Group differences for the outcome measures self-rated health (SRH), work satisfaction, work-related exhaustion, and hormones associated with stress were analysed using a two-factor ANOVA design for repeated measurements. Our findings showed no significant differences, either across time or between groups for SRH, work satisfaction, and work-related exhaustion. However, we did find significant change across time and between groups for the recovery hormone DHEA-S. Days of sick leave increased by 7% for employees in the study group and by 2% in the reference group. Serum cortisol showed significantly decreased levels across time but not between groups. The decreased recovery potential in the study group might have long-term health implications. The study points to the importance of looking at the impact of organizational change on employee well-being from a number of perspectives, such as self-reported health parameters, registered sick-leave data, and biological stress markers.     

Organizational change,health, and sick leave among health care employees: A longitudinal study measuring stress markers,individual, and work site factors

Abstract

This controlled longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the effects of organizational change on employees’ self-reported health, work satisfaction, work-related exhaustion, stress, and sick leave. The population consisted of 226 employees at T1 and 198 at T2, divided into a study group affected by organizational changes, and a reference group not affected by them. Group differences for the outcome measures self-rated health (SRH), work satisfaction, work-related exhaustion, and hormones associated with stress were analysed using a two-factor ANOVA design for repeated measurements. Our findings showed no significant differences, either across time or between groups for SRH, work satisfaction, and work-related exhaustion. However, we did find significant change across time and between groups for the recovery hormone DHEA-S. Days of sick leave increased by 7% for employees in the study group and by 2% in the reference group. Serum cortisol showed significantly decreased levels across time but not between groups. The decreased recovery potential in the study group might have long-term health implications. The study points to the importance of looking at the impact of organizational change on employee well-being from a number of perspectives, such as self-reported health parameters, registered sick-leave data, and biological stress markers.     

Health habits,type A behaviour and job burnout

Abstract

This study examined the effects of health habits and type A behaviour on psychological health outcomes in the face of daily life stress. Measures of the experience of life stress, health habits, type A behaviour, job burnout and psychological distress were collected for 146 employees at the UCLA Medical Centre. Analyses of covariance revealed that health habits contributed significant main effects to psychological distress but not job burnout. Type A behaviour, but not life stress or health habits, directly affected both job burnout and psychological distress. The implications of the research for employee health programmes are discussed.     

Work motivation, organisational identification, and well-being in call centre work

Previous work has not considered the interplay of motivational forces linked to the task with those linked to the social identity of employees. The aim of the present study is to combine these approaches. Two studies with call centre agents (N=211, N=161) were conducted in which the relationships of objective working conditions (e.g., inbound vs. outbound work), subjective measures of motivating potential of work, and organisational identification were analysed. Job satisfaction, turnover intentions, organisational citizenship behavior (OCB), health complaints, and burnout were assessed as indicators of the agents' work motivation and well-being. In both studies it was found that objective working conditions substantially correlated with subjective measures of work motivation. Moreover, employees experiencing a high motivating potential at work reported more OCB, higher job satisfaction, and less turnover intentions. As hypothesized, organisational identification was a further independent predictor of job satisfaction, turnover intentions, OCB, and well-being. Highly organisationally identified employees report higher work motivation and more well-being. Additionally, interactions between the motivating potential and organisational identification were found. However, all the results indicate that interventions seeking to enhance work motivation and well-being in call centres should improve both the motivating potential of the job and organisational identification. These two factors combined in an additive way across both studies.     

Managerial support for basic psychological needs,somatic symptom burden and work-related correlates: A self-determination theory perspective

Somatic symptom burden, or the experience of physical symptomatology without a medical explanation, is related to functional disability and poor quality of life. The consequences of somatic symptom burden extend beyond the individual and affect society, as manifested in higher medical utilization and lower job productivity. Using self-determination theory, we posited that employees' perceptions of managerial support for basic psychological needs may be associated with lower levels of somatic symptom burden among employees, in part because such contexts promote autonomous self-regulation (a type of motivation) at work. Also, we posited that somatic symptom burden among employees would explain some of the relations of managerial need support and autonomous self-regulation at work to indices of work-related functioning, namely emotional exhaustion, turnover intention and absenteeism. Results from 287 Norwegian employees confirmed these hypotheses. These findings not only identify a theoretical mechanism that may explain (in part) the origin of somatic symptoms, but also offer a model by which social-contextual and motivational factors affect important work-related outcomes. These findings also bespeak the importance of developing workplace interventions that provide support for satisfaction of the basic psychological needs.     

Work motivation,organisational identification,and well-being in call centre work

Abstract

Previous work has not considered the interplay of motivational forces linked to the task with those linked to the social identity of employees. The aim of the present study is to combine these approaches. Two studies with call centre agents (N=211, N=161) were conducted in which the relationships of objective working conditions (e.g., inbound vs. outbound work), subjective measures of motivating potential of work, and organisational identification were analysed. Job satisfaction, turnover intentions, organisational citizenship behavior (OCB), health complaints, and burnout were assessed as indicators of the agents’ work motivation and well-being. In both studies it was found that objective working conditions substantially correlated with subjective measures of work motivation. Moreover, employees experiencing a high motivating potential at work reported more OCB, higher job satisfaction, and less turnover intentions. As hypothesized, organisational identification was a further independent predictor of job satisfaction, turnover intentions, OCB, and well-being. Highly organisationally identified employees report higher work motivation and more well-being. Additionally, interactions between the motivating potential and organisational identification were found. However, all the results indicate that interventions seeking to enhance work motivation and well-being in call centres should improve both the motivating potential of the job and organisational identification. These two factors combined in an additive way across both studies.     

Stressors beget stressors: The effect of passive leadership on employee health through workload and work–family conflict

The current study examined passive leadership as a potential antecedent of two commonly studied workplace stressors (i.e. workload and work–family conflict), and investigated its negative effect on employee burnout and physical symptoms via these stressors. We collected two waves of data from 274 focal participants, and one wave of data from their co-workers. Results showed that both self-reported and co-worker-reported passive leadership was positively related to employee burnout and physical symptoms, as well as workload and work–family conflict. Additionally, workload and work–family conflict partially mediated the effects of passive leadership on burnout and physical symptoms, respectively. Our findings support the notion that passive leadership can create a stressful workplace and have a detrimental effect on employees’ health.     

The impact of a participatory organizational intervention on job stress in community health care institutions

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a short-term participatory intervention in health care institutions in Norway on workers' control, other job characteristics, job stress, subjective health and job satisfaction. Participants (including managers and supervisors) were randomly allocated to intervention groups and to a control group. Actions to solve problems based on the employees' own perceptions of the main problems were seen as the key motivators for organizational improvement and increased control at the task and office level in the work situation. The main stressors identified by the participants in this study were lack of information, communication and respect between professions, as well as the need for professional and personal development. The participatory intervention had a positive, but limited effect on work-related stress, job characteristics, learning climate and management style, and seemed to have started a beneficial change process. There were no negative short-term effects on work-related stress and job demands. Organizational interventions may be a potential training ground for acquiring participatory skills and resources, and if sustained after the intervention period, they can have long-term effects on problem solving, job stress and employee satisfaction.     

Socio-emotional and monetary employee-organization resource exchanges: Measurement and effects on daily employee functioning

ABSTRACT

Daily exchanges between employees and their organisation pertain mainly to socio-emotional resources. We investigate how daily employee-organizational resource exchanges relate to daily strain and work-related self-efficacy. We also examine the role of perceived organisational monetary investments on the relationship between daily employee resource investments and outcomes. To do so, we assess the psychometric properties of the Resource Exchange Scale (RES) that we developed for measuring general and daily employee and organisational resource investments (Study 1 and Study 2). Seventy-six health-care employees completed a general survey and a 10-day diary survey twice: at mid-shift and at the end of their shift (Study 3). Analyses supported the validity of the RES. Findings revealed that daily, under-reciprocal exchange related to increased physical symptoms. Mutual high daily resource investments related to greater work-related self-efficacy. The relationship between daily employee resource investments and self-efficacy was positive under conditions of both high and low perceived monetary investments. Lagged analyses showed that the previous day’s self-efficacy related positively to employees’ next day resource investments. Our findings suggest that socio-emotional resource exchanges matter for daily employee functioning, over and above between-person effects.     

The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory: A new tool for the assessment of burnout

So far, the large majority of studies on burnout in the international literature have employed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). In this paper we criticize the MBI on a number of points and present a new tool for the measurement of burnout: the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). The CBI consists of three scales measuring personal burnout, work-related burnout, and client-related burnout, for use in different domains. On the basis of an ongoing prospective study of burnout in employees in the human service sector, the PUMA study (Project on Burnout, Motivation and Job Satisfaction; N=1914 at baseline), we analysed the validity and reliability of the CBI. All three scales were found to have very high internal reliability, and non-response rates were small. The scales differentiated well between occupational groups in the human service sector, and the expected pattern with regard to correlations with other measures of fatigue and psychological well-being was found. Furthermore, the three scales predicted future sickness absence, sleep problems, use of pain-killers, and intention to quit. Analyses of changes over time showed that substantial proportions of the employees changed with regard to burnout levels. It is concluded that the analyses indicate very satisfactory reliability and validity for the CBI instrument. The CBI is being used in a number of countries and translations into eight languages are available.     

Organizational violence and aggression: Development of the three-factor Violence Climate Survey

The aim of this study is to examine the concept of health-specific leadership, differentiate it from sound general leadership and identify whether it has an impact on employee strain, alongside general sound leadership practices. Health-specific leadership is conceptualized as the leader's explicit consideration of and engagement in employee health. The study is based on research in the field of leadership impact on employee strain, health and well-being, extended by recent findings of the importance of domain-specific leadership constructs. As indicated by previous relevant studies, we include psychological climate for health, role ambiguity and job satisfaction as mediating variables. Using structural equation modelling, a sample of 1027 employees of the German tax administration was examined. The results show differential effects for health-specific and general sound leadership. While neither of these two aspects of leadership exhibited a direct association with employee strain, general sound leadership practices were significantly related to lower employee strain through lower levels of role ambiguity, better psychological climate for health and higher job satisfaction. Health-specific leadership was associated with higher levels of psychological climate for health, but also higher role ambiguity.     

Exposure to Psychological Aggression at Work and Job Performance: The Mediating Role of Job Attitudes and Personal Health

Despite the growing literature on workplace aggression and the importance of employee performance at work, few studies have examined the relation between workplace aggression and job performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations between psychological aggression at work and two forms of job performance (task performance and contextual performance) and potential mediators of these relations. Based on Conservation of Resources theory and prior research, a model was developed and tested in which overall job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and overall personal health (i.e., physical and psychological health) fully mediate the relations between exposure to psychological aggression at work and both task performance and contextual performance. Data were obtained from a national probability sample of US workers (N = 2376) and the model was tested using structural equation modelling. The results supported the hypothesized model, demonstrating that exposure to psychological aggression at work negatively predicted both task performance and contextual performance, and that these relations were explained by decrements in job attitudes and health associated with exposure to psychological aggression at work.