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  • Managers often need to stay motivated and effectively motivate others. Therefore, they should rely on evidence-based interventions to effectively motivate and self-motivate. This research investigated how self-determination theory-based interventions affect employees’ motivation dynamics and motivational consequences within short time frames (i.e., within an hour, within a few weeks or months) in two empirical studies. Study one focused on assessing the effectiveness of a one-day training workshop in helping to improve managers’ work motivation, basic psychological needs satisfaction/frustration, subordinates’ motivation, and perceptions of managers’ needs-supportive/thwarting behaviors within a few weeks. Results support the effectiveness of the training, as managers were rated by their direct subordinates as having fewer needs-thwarting behaviors and reported self-improvement in needs satisfaction and frustration six weeks after completing the training program. Study two used the mean and covariance structure analysis and tested the impact of three types of basic psychological needs-supportive/thwarting and control conditions (3 × 2 × 1 factorial design) on participants’ situational motivation, vitality, and general self-efficacy for playing online word games within 30 min. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the scalar measurement invariance, then latent group mean comparison results show consistently lower controlled motivation across the experimental conditions. During a quick online working scenario, the theory-based momentary intervention effectively changed situational extrinsic self-regulation in participants. Supplementary structural equation modeling (SEM; cross-sectional) analyses using experience samples supported the indirect dual-path model from basic needs satisfaction to vitality and general efficacy via situational motivation. We discussed the theoretical implications of the temporal properties of work motivation, the practical implications for employee training, and the limitations. © 2025 by the authors.

  • Surprisingly scant research has adequately examined directional influences between different perceptions of managerial leadership behaviors and different types of work motivation, and even fewer studies have examined contextual moderators of these influences. The present study investigated longitudinal and multilevel autoregressive cross-lagged relations between perceptions of transformational, transactional, and passive-avoidant leadership with autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation. Multilevel longitudinal models were estimated on data from 788 employees, nested under 108 distinct supervisors, from six Canadian organizations. Results revealed that perceptions of leadership behaviors predicted changes in motivation mostly at the collective level and that some of these relations changed as a function of whether organizations had recently faced a crisis. Collective perceptions of transformational leadership were related to increased collective autonomous and controlled motivation, while individual controlled motivation was related to increased individual perceptions of transactional leadership. In organizations facing a crisis, individual perceptions of transactional leadership were related to decreased individual controlled motivation, while collective perceptions of transactional leadership were related to increased collective autonomous motivation and decreased collective amotivation. In organizations not facing a crisis, collective perceptions of transactional leadership were related to decreased collective autonomous motivation. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Last update from database: 3/13/26, 4:15 PM (UTC)

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