Search results

Cognitive evaluation theory (CET; Deci, 1975), SDT's first mini-theory, was built from research on the dynamic interplay between external events (e.g., rewards, choice) and people's task interest or enjoyment – that is, intrinsic motivation (IM). At the time, this research was quite controversial, as operant theory (Skinner, 1971) had dominated the psychological landscape. The central assumption of operant theory was that reinforcement contingencies in the environment control behavior, which precluded the existence of inherently satisfying activities performed for non-separable outcomes. During this time, Deci proposed that people – by nature – possess intrinsic motivation (IM), which can manifest as engagement in curiosity-based behaviors, discovery of new perspectives, and seeking out optimal challenges (see also Harlow, 1953; White, 1959). IM thus represents a manifestation of the organismic growth tendency and is readily observed in infants' and toddlers' exploratory behavior and play. Operationally, an intrinsically motivated activity is performed for its own sake – that is, the behavior is experienced as inherently satisfying. From an attributional perspective (deCharms, 1968), such behaviors have an internal perceived locus of causality, as people perceive their behavior as emanating from their sense of self, rather than from experiences of control or coercion.

Using the inaugural Edinburgh International Magic Festival (EIMF) as a case study, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the motivational factors prevalent in a group of young event and festival volunteers.

This paper will first review the extent of volunteering and, thereafter, will discuss volunteering in the festival and events industry. Focussing on motivations to volunteer, this paper will also identify key research that has examined volunteer motivation in the festival and event sector. Within the context of the festivals and events sector, the paper highlights the benefits of volunteering to the volunteer, the organisation and the community as a whole. The paper discusses volunteering as a means of developing specific skills and knowledge that improve volunteers' CVs and potentially has a positive impact on career opportunities and careers in the festival and event industries. Using the inaugural EIMF as a case study, the authors conducted semi‐structured interviews with volunteers as a means of more fully understanding motivations to volunteer.

The paper argues that volunteers in contemporary society approach a volunteering activity from a utilitarian perspective. The aim of such an episode is to improve industry‐specific skills and knowledge and positively impact on future career opportunities.

Festival and event organisers need to fully understand the motivations of their volunteers, in order to not only fully utilise existing skills, but also assist in the development of individually required skills and knowledge.

This paper argues for the development of specific training and development programmes for festival and event volunteers as a means of developing skills and enhancing career opportunities.

We reflect upon the histories of the behavioral science and the neuroscience of motivation, taking note of how these increasingly consilient disciplines inform each other. This volume’s chapters illustrate how the field has moved beyond the study of immediate external rewards to the examination of neural mechanisms underlying varied motivational and appetitive states. Exemplifying this trend, we focus on emerging knowledge about intrinsic motivation, linking it with research on both the play and exploratory behaviors of nonhuman animals. We also speculate about large-scale brain networks related to salience processing as a possibly unique component of human intrinsic motivation. We further review emerging studies on neural correlates of basic psychological needs during decision making that are beginning to shine light on the integrative processes that support autonomous functioning. As with the contributions in this volume, such research reflects the increasing iteration between mechanistic studies and contemporary psychological models of human motivation.

The paper aims to establish the position that discrete work tasks, rather than entire jobs, are the most useful level of analysis of age differences in work motivation.

A total of 189 workers (aged 18‐65 years) from production and office jobs in the building industry completed a survey on personal and job resources, overall and task‐specific motivation, and job satisfaction.

Age was positively associated with motivation for generativity‐related, but not growth‐related tasks. Personal and job resources were positively and differentially related to task‐specific motivation.

Building on the notion of age‐specific constellations of high and low‐motivation tasks, the findings inspire research into age‐related changes in work motivation. The authors studied only two task types; a more comprehensive task set will in future studies yield deeper insights into motivational regulation. Working with other industry sectors will enhance generalisability.

The results contribute to a theory‐based, empirically grounded platform to assess age‐related changes in work motivation, and to derive age‐differentiated motivational interventions.

Supporting older workers' motivation in light of the demand for longer individual work lives is becoming an important agenda for employers and policy makers. This research contributes to developing tools for such motivation support.

The paper enhances the conceptual clarity of work motivation research by distinguishing global and task‐specific levels of motivation. The conceptualisation differentiates job design approaches by considering age‐related changes at multiple levels instead of focusing on major age effects only.

In the vibrant world of social commerce (SC), where information flows freely, interactions thrive and online purchases abound, there is an escalating challenge. Users are uninstalling and disengaging due to approach and avoidance stimuli, a trend mirroring the approach-avoidance motivation model (AAMM). Our study, anchored in AAMM and the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model, aims to dive into the complex dynamics of these factors that shape users' SC continuance intentions.

Our findings, drawn from 472 SC users in Malaysia, paint an intriguing research framework via PLS-SEM analysis by testing the proposed hypotheses. A purposive sampling technique was utilized, deliberately selecting respondents based on specific criteria. Subsequently, data were gathered through the distribution of face-to-face questionnaires at selected shopping malls, facilitating a focused and comprehensive exploration of consumer perspectives.

The empirical results demonstrate the following: (1) Users' determination to stay engaged on SC platforms hinges on approach factors, like emotional support, surveillance gratification and multisensory gratification. (2) Simultaneously, avoidance factors such as technostress and perceived deception exert their negative influence. (3) Flow experience, rooted in flow theory, emerges as the underlying mechanism connecting these duality stimuli, influencing the continuance intention.

In a departure from conventional research, our study pioneers a comprehensive approach and boldly confronts the research gap by introducing a rich tapestry of antecedents, embracing both the appeal of approach factors and the deterrence of avoidance ones, using the AAMM that sheds light on how individuals navigate between embracing opportunities and avoiding pitfalls based on perceived gains and losses. This holistic approach enables us to redefine our understanding of digital engagement dynamics, offering a captivating journey into the realm of user experience and intention that transcends the ordinary.

Discrimination is defined as negative or harmful behavior toward a person because of his or her membership in a particular group (see Jones, 1997). Unfortunately, experiences with discrimination due to racial group membership appear to be a normal part of development for African American youth. Discrimination experiences occur within a variety of social contexts, including school, peer, and community contexts, and with increasing frequency as youth move across the adolescent years (Fisher, Wallace, & Fenton, 2000; Seaton et al., 2008). Recent research with a nationally representative sample of African American 13–17-year olds revealed that 87% had experienced at least one racially discriminatory event during the preceding year (Seaton et al., 2008). Most of the research on the consequences of youths’ encounters with racial discrimination has focused on mental health outcomes (Cooper, McLoyd, Wood, & Hardaway, 2008), with surprisingly little work examining whether and through what mechanisms discrimination affects achievement motivation.

The researchers aim to investigate the role of psychological capital (PsyCap) in facilitating intrinsic motivation and goal-commitment among employees at the workplace, affecting outcome variables, namely, in-role and extra-role job performance.

Data were collected from 640 employees working in the information technology sector of India. Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) was used to test the hypothesized relationships.

Analysis revealed a significant positive impact of PsyCap on the two behavioral facets of job performance. Intrinsic motivation and goal-commitment were found mediating the influence of PsyCap on the two facets of job performance.

The information technology sector is characterised by continuous change. It requires voluntary prosocial behavior from employees, where the employees are expected to display multifaceted job performance behaviors, where they go beyond their job duties to cater for the dynamics of the IT sector. The present study provides means by which intrinsic motivated and goal-committed behavior are facilitated for both the in-role and extra-role job performance.

The present study is among the few preliminary studies that have provided evidence that intrinsic motivation and goal-commitment are the two variables which aid PsyCap in predicting both the prescribed and voluntary job performance behaviors.

The current work explores the attributes that serve as motivation regulations for students' selection of a higher education institute (HEI).

With a self-determination theory (SDT) perspective, the current study used a mixed-method approach to develop a scale to measure HEI attribute-based motivation regulations.

A total of eight regulations were proposed: academic/extracurricular activities, infrastructure, faculty research expertise, teaching and learning quality, placement opportunities, marketing and promotion, education cost and social influence. The first four were autonomous motivations and the remaining were controlled motivations.

The study leverages the SDT motivation continuum into a structured HEI attribute-based student motivation framework.

The study guides HEI managers with specific attributes to position the institute appropriately.

This is one of the few works in the higher education utilizing the complete SDT framework.

Short-term motivation encompasses specific, challenging and attainable goals that develop in the limited timespan. On the other hand, long-term motivation indicates a sort of continuing commitment that is required to complete assigned task. As short-term motivational problems span for a limited period of time, such as a session, therefore, they need to be addressed in real time to keep the learner engaged in the learning process. Similarly, long-term learners’ motivation plays an equally important role to retain the learner in the long run and minimize the risk of dropout. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to incorporate a comprehensive learner motivation model that is based on short-term and long-term aspects of the learners' motivation. This approach enables Web-based educational systems to identify the real-time motivational state of the learner and provide personalized interventions to keep the learners engaged in learning process.

Recent research regarding personalized Web-based educational systems demonstrates learner’s motivation to be an essential component of the learning model. This is because of the fact that low motivation results in either students’ less engagement or complete drop out from the learning activities. A learner motivation model is considered to be a set of perceptions and beliefs that the system has developed about a learner. This includes both short-term and long-term motivations of leaners.

This study proposed a framework of a domain independent learners’ motivation model based on firm educational theories. The proposed framework consists of two modules. The primary module deals with real-time identification of motivation and logging off activities such as login, forum participation and adherence to assessment deadline. Secondary module maintains the profile of leaners associated with both short-term and long-term motivation. A study was conducted to verify the impact of learners’ motivation model and personalized interventional strategies based on proposed model, using Systematical Information Education Method assessment standards. The results show an increase in motivational index and the characteristics associated with motivation during the conducted study.

Motivational diagnosis is important for both traditional classrooms and Web-based education systems. It is one of the major elements that contribute in the success of the learning process. However, dropout rate among online students is very high, which leads to incorporate motivational elements in more personalized way because motivated students will retain the course until they successfully complete it. Hence, identifying learner’s motivation, updating learners’ motivation model based on this identification and providing personalized interventions are the key for the success of Web-based educational systems.

Intrinsic motivation occurs due to positive reactions that arise directly from engagement in work activities. Scholars have asserted that intrinsic motivation plays an important role in organizational phenomena such as creativity (George, 2007), leadership (Piccolo & Colquitt, 2006), and performance (Gagné & Deci, 2005). We review the research literature on intrinsic motivation and provide an overview and integration of the leading theories. We then develop a conceptual model in which positive affect serves as a primary cause of intrinsic motivation. We discuss how affect alone may induce intrinsic motivation, how affect may lead to nonconscious experiences of intrinsic motivation, and how affect and cognitions may work in concert to produce the strongest and most persistent intrinsic motivation experiences. We conclude by suggesting new avenues for research that might be pursued using this cognitive–affective model of intrinsic motivation.