Motivation
Does motivation drive workaholism, or the other way round?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Workers whose basic psychological needs were met became more intrinsically motivated over time, but workaholism and engagement shaped later motivation rather than being caused by it.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cohort — Two-wave online panel six months apart; cross-lagged structural equation models comparing stability, causal, reversed and reciprocal models.
- N
- N=314 · 314 employees who completed both waves and kept or changed (but did not lose) their job; 1,896 completed wave 1.
- Population
- Dutch employees recruited through a career-related website (convenience sample of mid-career adults)
- Outcome
- Workaholism (DUWAS), work engagement (UWES), types of motivational regulation (MWMS), basic need satisfaction
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Key findings
Need satisfaction at time 1 predicted more intrinsic motivation and less external and introjected (guilt- or ego-driven) motivation six months later, while motivation did not predict later need satisfaction. Contrary to the hypotheses, motivation did not predict later workaholism or engagement; instead workaholism predicted more introjected and less intrinsic motivation, and engagement predicted more identified and intrinsic motivation. Need satisfaction did not predict later workaholism or engagement, so the proposed mediation chain was not supported.
Methodology
Dutch employees answered an online survey twice, six months apart, and 314 people with usable data at both times were analysed. The survey measured satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, four types of work motivation from self-determination theory (external, introjected, identified and intrinsic), workaholism and work engagement. Cross-lagged structural equation models tested which variables at time 1 predicted changes in others at time 2, and in which direction.
Limitations
It is a convenience sample from a career website with heavy drop-out between waves (about 81% non-response), and completers were older and more educated, so results may not generalise. Everything was self-reported, and cross-lagged effects were small because the variables were highly stable over six months. Two waves cannot fully test mediation, and a reciprocal model fitted almost as well, so the 'reversed' direction is a preference for parsimony rather than proof.
How this study connects
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