Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shahid Chamran University

2 PhD Student in Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shahid Chamran University

3 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shahid Chamran University

Abstract

A model of the precedents and outcomes of work motivation was developed and tested with survey responses from 652 employees of National Iranian South Oil Company in Ahvaz region, Iran. The variables in the model were arranged in five layers, which included: 1) distal precursors of motivation (motivational traits, procedural constraints and job goal difficulty), 2) proximal precursors (Islamic work ethic, pay satisfaction, basic psychological needs, self-efficacy, job characteristics and job security), 3) work motivation variable, 4) proximal outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job involvement, effort and turnover intention), and 5) distal outcomes of motivation (job performance and job stress). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) through AMOS-7 and SPSS-15 software packages were used for data analysis. The results of the hypothesized CFA model indicated that the relationship between each indicator variable and its respective latent variable was statistically significant. On the basis of the overall model fit indices, findings indicated that the revision of the hypothesized structural model was warranted. Better fit and more meaningful results were obtained by developing optimal model. The implementation of χ2 difference test had also indicated the improvement trend of the final model. Implications for designing work motivation systems are discussed.

Keywords

Ali, A. (1988). Scaling an Islamic work ethic. Journal of Social Psychology,128, 575-583.
Ali. A. (2005). Islamic perspectives on management and organization. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Ambrose, M. L., & Kulik, C. T. (1999). Old friends, new faces: Motivation research in the 1990s. Journal of Management,25, 231-292.
Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 411-423.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K., & Strauss, J. P. (1994). Antecedents of involuntary turnover due to a reduction in force. Personnel Psychology, 47, 515-535.
Barrick, M. R., Stewart, G. L., & Piotrowski, M. (2002). Personality and job performance: Test of the mediating effects of motivation among sales representatives. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 43-51.
Bhatt, D. J. (1997). Job stress, job involvement and job satisfaction of teachers: A correlational study. Indian Journal of Psychometry and Education, 28, 87-94.
Blau, G. (1993). Operationalizing direction and level of effort and testing their relationships to individual job performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 55, 152-170.
Brown, S. P., & Leigh, T. W. (1996). A new look at psychological climate and its relationship to job involvement, effort, and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 358-368.
Brown, S. P., & Peterson, R. A. (1993). Antecedents and consequences of salesperson job satisfaction: Meta-analysis and assessment of causal effects. Journal of Marketing Research, 30, 63-77.
Camman, C., Fichman, M., Jenkins, D., & Klesh, J. (1979). TheMichigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire. (Unpublished manuscript, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.)
De Cenzo, D. A., & Robbins, S. P. (1996). Human resource management (5th Ed.). New York: Wiley.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.
Erez, M., & Earley, P. C. (1993). Culture, self-identity and work. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Franco, K. M., Kanfer, R., Milburn, L., Qarrain, R., & Stubblebine, P. (2000). A 360 degree assessment of worker motivation in two Jordanian hospitals. Major applied research 5, working paper 7. Bathesda, MD: Partnerships for Health Reform, Abt Associates Inc.
Franco, L., Bennett, S., & Kanfer, R. (2002). Health sector reform and public sector health worker motivation: A conceptual framework. Social Science & Medicine, 54, 1255-1266.
Gardner, D. G., Van Dyne, L., & Pierce, J. L. (2004). The effects of pay level on organization-based self-esteem and performance: A field study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77, 307-322.
Hackett, R. D., Bycio, P., & Hausdorf, P. A. (1994). Further assessments of Meyer and Allen’s (1991) three-component model of organizational commitment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 15-23.
Heggestad, E. D. (1997). Motivation from a personal perspective: The development of a measure of motivational traits. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Heggestad, E. D., & Kanfer, R. (2000). Individual differences in trait motivation: Development of the motivational trait questionnaire. International Journal of Educational Research, 33, 751-776.
Heneman, H. G., III, & Schwab, D. P. (1985). Pay satisfaction: Its multidimensional nature and measurement. International Journal of Psychology, 20, 129-142.
Hornby, P., & Sidney, E. (1988). Motivation and health service performance. WHO/ EDUC/ 88-196, Geneva: World Health Organization.
Houkes, I., Janssen, P. P. M., deJonge, J., & Nijhuis, F. J. N. (2001). Specific relationships between work characteristics and intrinsic work motivation, burnout and turnover intentions: A multi-sample analysis. European Work and Organizational Psychologist, 10, 1-23.
Ironson, G. H., Smith, P. C., Brannick, M. T., Gibson, W. M., & Paul, K. B. (1989). Constrution of a job in general scale: A comparison of global, composite, and specific measures. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 193-200.
Judge, T. A., Boudreau, J. W., & Bretz, R. D. (1994). Job and life attitudes of male executives. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 767-782.
Kanfer, R. (1990). Motivation theory and industrial and organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (2nd Ed., 1, 75-160). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists.
Kanfer, R. (1999). Measuring motivation. Major applied research 5, working paper No. 1. Bethesda MD: Partnerships for Health Reform, Abt Associates Inc.
Kanfer, R., & Heggestad, E. D. (1997). Motivational traits and skills: A person-centered approach to work motivation. Research in Organizational Behavior, 19, 1-56.
Kanfer, R., & Kanfer, F. H. (1991). Goals and self-regulation: Application of the theory to work setting. In M. L. Maehr, & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (7, 287-326). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Kanungo, R. N. (1982). Measurement of job and work involvement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67, 341-349.
Klein, H. J., Wesson, M. J., Hollenbeck, J. R., & Bradley J. A. (1999). Goal commitment and the goal-setting process: Conceptual clarification and empirical synthesis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 885-896.
Knoop, R. (1994). Organizational commitment and individual values. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78, 200-202.
Latham, G. P. (2007). Work motivation: History, theory, research, and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Leong, C. S., Furnham, A., & Cooper, C. L. (1996). The moderating effect of organizational commitment on the occupational stress outcome relationship. Human Relations, 49, 1345-1363.
Lynch, M. F. Jr., Plant, R. W., & Ryan, M. R. (2005). Psychological needs and threat to safety: Implications for staff and patients in a psychiatric hospital for youth. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36, 415-425.
Maier, N. R. F. (1955). Psychology iv industry (2nd Ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Mitchell, T. R., & Daniels, D. (2003). Motivation. In W. C. Borman, D. R. Ilgen, & R. J. Klimoski (Eds.), Handbook of psychology, industrial and organizational psychology (12, 225-254). New York: Wiley.
Mowday, R. T., Steers, R., & Porter, L. W. (1979). The measurement of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14, 224-247.
Pinder, C. C. (1998). Work motivation in organizational behavior. Englewood Cliffs: NJ:Prentice Hall.
Quarles, R. (1994). An examination of promotion opportunities and evaluation criteria as mechanisms for affecting internal auditor commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intensions. Journal of Managerial Issues, 6, 176-194.
Robbins, S. P. (1998). Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Russ, F. A., & McNeilly, K. M. (1995). Links among satisfaction, commitment, and turnover intensions: The moderating effect of experience, gender, and performance. Journal of Business Research, 34, 57-65.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55 (1), 68-78.
Schwarzer, R., & Jerusalem, M. (1995). Generalized self-efficacy scale. In J. Weinman, S. Wright, & M. Johnston (Eds.), Measures in health psychology: A user’s portfolio. Causal and control beliefs (35-37). Windsor, UK: NFER-NELSON.
Sims, H. P., Szilagyi, A. D., & Keller, R. T. (1976). The measurement of job characteristics. Academy of Management Journal, 19, 195-212.
Sobel, M. E. (1982). Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equations models. In S. Leinhart (Ed.), Sociological methodology, 1982 (290-312). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Spector, P. E. (2006). Industrial and organizational psychology: Research and practice. New York: Wiley.
Steers, R. M., Mowday, R. T., & Shapiro, D. L. (2004). The future of work motivation. Academy of Management Review, 29, 379-387.
Ten Horn, L. A. (1989). Your work… and what you think of it: Questionnaire for the measurement of variables related to the quality of jobs. Report. Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Technology and Society.
Ten Horn, L. A., & Roe, R. A. (1988). De Delftse Meetdoos Voor Kwaliteit van Arbeid. Orientatie voor gebruikers [The Delft Measurement Kit Users’ Guide]. Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Technology and Society.
Ten Horn, L. A., Zinovieva, I. L., Roe, R. A., & Dienes, E. (1996). Work in times of transition: An analysis of work related perceptions, attitudes and work motivation in Bulgaria, 1992-1994. Bulgaria Journal of Psychology, 1, 3-19.
Tett, R. P., & Meyer, J. P. (1994). Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention and turnover: Path analyses based on meta-analytic findings. Personnel Psychology,46, 259-293.
Wright, B. E. (2004). The role of work context in work motivation: A public sector application of goal and social cognitive theories. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 14, 59-78.