Motivation at work (+ book week 4)

What is motivational science?

What is motivational science?

~ subfield of psychology and neuroscience, interested in why people do what they do (the direction, intensity and persistence of behaviour)

→ concerned w/needs, goals, effort, and rewards

What is hedonic axiom?

~ organisms try to obtain positive outcomes and avoid negative ones

→ basic assumptions of motivation science

→ axiom ~ fundamental assumption that cannot be tested(bc it is so fundamental it is just common sense sort of)

What are the general principles of motivational science?

a. needs

b. goals

c. efforts

d. rewards

→ consistent across the fields studying motivation

What is valence, instrumentality, and expectancy?

valence ~ idea of how valuable the outcomes of a good performance are (scale 1-10)

instrumentality ~ the probability with which people expect their performance to have the outcomes (scale 0-1)

expectancy ~ are people able to perform to the level required (probability of reaching that; scale 0-1)

force = expectancy * the sum of (all valence times all instrumentality)

→ ppl can choose to perform well or just good enough

when do people choose for the more difficult tasks?

when

i. valence is higher

ii. instrumentality is higher

iii. valence * instrumentality is higher

→ supports expectancy theory

→ linked to dopamine systems and mood disorders

→ maybe linked to melatonin-dopamine interaction (decisions made differently in the evening as compared to during the day)

What is Adam's equity theory?

~ having a job is similar to being in a relationship (give and take)

que → do I get enough in return for all my work?

i. outcomes

ii. inputs

→ own outcomes and inputs compared to the outcomes and inputs of others (outcome/input of self vs outcome/input of a reference => can be our past selves or smb else)

research w/monkeys & cucumber/grapes, planes w/business and economy classes & number of fights

→ based on cognitive dissonance

What are the critical notes on equity theory?

i. only about distributive justice (how the outcomes are distributed) as opposed to including also procedural justice (how do you get to the outcome)

ii. non-specific about inputs and outcomes → treats money, recognition, … as the same (while they are psychologically different)

What is goal setting theory?

~ says that motivation comes from within the person but that the environment can shape motivation and behaviour as well

→ behaviour motivated by intentions, motives, and/or goals

important factors for it to be effective

i. goal commitment

ii. feedback

iii. the more difficult the goal, the better the performance

iv. specific hard goals > vague do your best goals

v. self-set goals > organisationally assigned ones

Why is the word motivation not so useful in science?

~ bc it is quite general and therefore doesn’t pinpoint a specific psychological process (motivation is a cause of behaviour is super broad)

how can expectancy theory be described?

~ analytical way of making predictions of human behaviour based on expectancy, instrumentality and valence

basic assumption → brain predicts outcomes of potential actions by making computations which help in decision making

main que → what happens in the mind when trying to answer is this worth working for? Is the outcome worth the effort?

ppl have some degree of understanding how well they perform and what will happen if they do well

how is (in)equity divided?

a. equity ~ compared to others, I get the same amount of reward for my effort (content)

b. underpayment inequity ~ others get more money for the same amount of effort (anger)

c. overpayment inequity ~ others get less money for the same amount of effort (shame)

social (how fair is it in comparison to others doing the same job) vs personal (did you get as much as you deserved?) equity

what are the levels of needs assessment and how is it conducted?

~ done to determine who needs training and what kind of training

levels & how

i. organisation level ~ analysing the organisation’s objectives and how those are related to the employee performance

ii. job level ~ analysing what is the nature of tasks of jobs (major tasks and the KSAOs needed for them)

iii. person level ~ analysing how well are people able to do the job tasks

what is transfer of training and which factors affect it?

~ the expectation that employee will apply what they have learnt during the training on the job itself

model of transfer

~ how the training design features affect how well trainees learn and therefore how well the training transfers to the job itself

i. trainee characteristics

ii. training design

→ feedback

→ general principles ~ why and how; framework of learning)

→ identical elements ~ responses in the training should be identical w/those on the job)

→ overlearning ~ overlearning the material so that it consolidates so well that it becomes almost automatic)

→ sequencing ~ part vs whole (learning it in parts vs all in one go), massed vs spaced (long sessions w/i short period of time vs short sessions over longer period of time)

iii. work environment

What are the eight different training methods and their advantages?

a. audiovisual construction ~ electronic presentation of materials (audio, video, …)

b. autoinstruction ~ self-paced training method w/o an instructor (e.g., programmed instruction → chunks/frames of material w/questions and feedback that a person goes through on their own)

c. conference ~ trainer meets w/trainees and can discuss the material and ask questions (active learning)

d. lecture ~ trainee gives a presentation to a group of trainees (efficient)

e. modelling ~ watch smb perform a task and then model what has been seen (live/recorded; effective/ineffective behaviour)

f. on the job training ~ showing how to do a job while the employee is doing it (e.g., apprenticeship)

g. role play ~ pretending to do a task as if it was real (part of the modelling procedure)

h. simulation ~ pretending as if the situation is real, with all the same equipment and all, carrying out the tasks as they would in real life

→ computer games also found to be effective

how are trainings evaluated?

five steps

i. define criteria for evaluation

→ training-level criteria (reaction - how much they liked it, learning - what they have learnt)

→ performance-level criteria (behaviour - do they do what they were taught, results - did the training have the intended effect)

ii. choose design ~ how do you collect the data (pre/post test, control group, …)

iii. choose measures of the criteria ~ reaction criteria → questionnaire; learning criteria → test at the end

iv. collect data

v. analyse and interpret data

→ if training works at both training and performance level, it is effective

How can work-motivation theories be divided?

a. expectancy theory ~ relates environmental rewards to behaviour

b. self-efficacy theory ~ looks at how ppl’s beliefs about their capability affect their behaviour

c. justice theories ~ concerned w/ppl’s values, presuming they generally value fairness (unfairness motivates ppl to resolve it)

d. goal-setting theory ~ how ppl’s goals and intentions lead to behaviour

e. cognitive control theory ~ focus on goal w/attention on feedback and how discrepancies between goals and current situation motivate behaviour

f. action theory~ explains self-motivated and voluntary (volitional) behaviour at work

→ distal (processes far from behaviour, needs) vs proximal (processes close to the behaviour, goals/intentions) motivational theories

What are the two needs theories?

~ motivation is seen as a result of people’s desires for smth

a. need hierarchy theory ~ Maslow, needs fulfilment necessary for overall health/wellbeing (need must be unmet to be motivating)

b. two-factor theory ~ motivation comes from the nature of the job, not the rewards

how are job satisfaction and organisational commitment different?

~ organisational commitment focuses on the attachment of the individual to the organisation rather than on whether or not they are satisfied w/the job

→ job satisf. assessed w/questionnaires or an interview (que > interv)

what are the types of organisational commitment?

a. affective ~ emotional attachment as a motivation to stay in a job

b. continuance ~ need of the benefits/lack of alternatives motivating the person to stay in the job

c. normative ~ ppl believe they owe it to the organisation to stay as it is the right thing to do

→ assessed based on these three subtypes w/a questionnaire

how are emotional states different from moods?

~ emotional state is the immediate experience of an emotion while a mood is a long-term, less specific state w/a positive or negative direction