Motivation,altruism, and generalized compliance: a field study of organizational citizenship behaviors

This study tests the relations among five sources of motivation and two organizational citizenship behaviors. 175 employees from 31 locations of two agriculturally based companies completed the Motivation Sources Inventory and were rated by their supervisors for demonstrated organizational citizenship behaviors. There were significant positive correlations for employees' Self-concept-Internal Motivation with Altruistic Behavior of employees; while employees' Self-concept-External Motivation showed a significant negative relation with Altruistic Behavior by employees. Surprisingly, no correlation between employees' Goal Internalization Motivation and Altruistic Behavior by employees was found. Interpretation of these findings and further research are suggested.     

科技人员创造动机与创造力的研究

本研究初步探讨了我国科技人员创造动机与创造力的关系及其基本特征。 1 74名科技人员回答了成就目标、内部动机与外部动机、创造动机和创造力问卷。研究结果表明我国科技人员有较高的创造力和创造动机水平 ,在动机中内部动机水平最高。在动机与创造力的关系上 ,内部动机对创造力的直接与间接影响均达到了显著水平 ,外部动机对创造力的负面影响没有达到显著水平 ,任务目标对创造力无影响 ,自我目标对创造力的积极影响未达到显著水平。     

Sex differences among five sources of motivation in the motivation sources inventory: preliminary findings

Paper reports sex differences among five sources of motivation for a sample of 208 undergraduate students who completed the Motivation Sources Inventory. t tests yielded few statistically significant sex differences for the five sources of motivation; however, Instrumental Motivation was higher among men than women, while the remaining four motives showed no sex difference. Implications and research opportunities are discussed.     

自我损耗、情绪动机对冲动决策的影响

以大学生为被试,探讨自我损耗、情绪动机对冲动决策的影响。采用2×2×2的混合实验设计,组内变量为自我损耗,组间变量为情绪动机方向和强度,使用双任务范式操作自我损耗,使用情绪动机图片启动被试的情绪动机,使用延迟折扣任务的指标k值测量冲动决策。结果发现,高趋近动机的k值大于低趋近动机,高回避动机的k值大于低回避动机。结果表明,自我损耗、情绪动机对冲动决策有明显影响。     

Prediction of intrinsic motivation and sports performance using 2 x 2 achievement goal framework

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of 2 x 2 achievement goals on intrinsic motivation and performance in handball. Participants were 164 high school athletes. All completed the 2 x 2 Achievement Goals Questionnaire for Sport and the Intrinsic Motivation subscale of the Sport Motivation Scale; the coach for each team rated his athletes' overall sports performance. Using simultaneous-regression analyses, mastery-approach goals positively predicted both intrinsic motivation and performance in sports, whereas performance-avoidance goals negatively predicted sports performance. These results suggest that athletes who pursue task mastery and improvement of their competence perform well and enjoy their participation. In contrast, those who focus on avoiding normative incompetence perform poorly.     

The Relation Between Experience and Spatial Performance in Men and Women

The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that environmental factors affect the magnitude of gender differences in spatial performance only when the tasks used are susceptible to the influence of such factors. Two hundred and ninety White middle-class undergraduate students (165 females, 125 males) completed the Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotations Test (MRT), a paper and pencil version of the Water Level Task (WLT), and toys and sports preference questionnaires. Results revealed that males outperformed females on both spatial tests. In addition, a main effect of toys preference showed that participants with a spatial toys preference outperformed those with a nonspatial preference on both the MRT and the WLT. This main effect was qualified by an interaction between this factor and gender. The interaction was found only on the WLT and showed that gender differences were only significant in participants with a nonspatial preference. An interaction of sports preference and gender was also observed. This interaction revealed that, in contrast to what was obtained with toys, gender differences on both spatial tests were significant only in participants with a spatial sports preference. Implications of these findings with regard to the development of gender differences in spatial abilities are discussed.     

A study named desire: Local focus increases approach motivation for desserts

When we desire something, our approach motivation is high. Recent research shows affective states high in approach motivation cause attentional narrowing (localization) (e.g.; Gable and Harmon-Jones in Psychological Science 19:476–482, 2008; Juergensen and Demaree in Motivation and Emotion 39:580–588, 2015). Does the reciprocal relationship exist? That is, when our attention is narrowed, does our motivation to approach something desirable increase? To test this, we primed participants with either global or local attentional focus before viewing images of desirable items (e.g., desserts) or neutral items (e.g., furniture). Relative to participants primed with global attentional focus, participants primed with local attentional focus demonstrated greater approach motivation to desirable desserts compared to neutral items on an Approach Avoidance Task. Despite greater approach motivation for desserts, participants with localized attention did not subjectively rate desserts as more desirable than participants with global attention. These results suggest that increased approach motivation following local priming is evidenced at an implicit level only: participants appear to be unaware of appetitive images’ increased desirability.     

A field study of two measures of work motivation for predicting leader's transformational behaviors

Relationships between motivation and transformational leadership were examined in this study. 56 leaders and 234 followers from a variety of organizations were sampled. Leaders were administered the Motivation Sources Inventory and the Job Choice Decision-making Exercise, while followers reported leaders' behaviors using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-rater version). Scores on the Motivation Sources Inventory subscales subsequently correlated with the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire subscales of inspirational motivation, idealized influence (behavior), and individualized consideration (range, r = .13 to .23). There were no significant correlations among any of the Job Choice Decision-making Exercise subscales with any of the variables measured.     

Girls' soccer performance and motivation: games vs technique approach

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the Technique and Games approaches on girls' soccer performance and motivation. The Technique approach focuses on technique instruction using drills, whereas the Games approach places emphasis on tactic instruction with modified games. 37 girls, 12 to 13 years old, were taught 15 soccer lessons by the Technique approach and 35 girls by the Games approach. At the beginning and at the end of the research soccer matches were videotaped and evaluated by Oslin, Mitchell, and Griffin's Game Performance Assessment Instrument. Girls' motivation was assessed on the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory. The Games group had significantly better scores after training on tactical behaviour and intrinsic motivation than the Technique group. There were no significant differences in skill execution between groups trained under the two approaches. Considering the importance of intrinsic motivation for a lifelong, physically active lifestyle, researchers could focus study on the approaches and girls' motivation.     

Motivation as a predictor of outcomes in school‐based humanistic counselling

Background: Recent years have seen a growth in the provision of counselling within UK secondary schools, and research indicates that it is associated with significant reductions in psychological distress. However, little is known about the moderators and mediators of positive therapeutic benefit. In the field of adult mental health, motivation has been found to be one of the strongest predictors of therapeutic outcomes, and it was hypothesised that this may also be a predictor of outcomes for young people in school‐based counselling services. Aims: To assess the relationship between young people's motivation for counselling and its effectiveness within a secondary school setting. Sample: Eighty‐one young people (12–17 years old) who attended school‐based humanistic counselling services in Scotland. Method: Clients completed a measure of motivation for counselling at the commencement of their therapeutic work and a measure of psychological wellbeing at the commencement and termination of counselling. Results: Motivation for counselling was not found to be significantly related to outcomes. Discussion: The results indicate that the association between motivation and outcomes may be weaker in young people as compared with adults. However, a number of design factors may also account for the non‐significant findings: insufficient participants, marginal reliability of the motivation measure and social desirability effects.     

Terror management and the vicissitudes of sports fan affiliation: the effects of mortality salience on optimism and fan identification

The present research examined the hypothesis derived from terror management theory that identifications with sports teams shield against the potential consequences of awareness of death. Experiment 1 demonstrated that Dutch participants who were reminded of their death expressed greater optimism about the results of the national soccer team compared to a control condition. Experiment 2 conceptually replicated this finding with American participants and college sports teams. In addition, Experiment 2 tested the hypothesis that success of a team is a prerequisite for sports fan affiliation to function as a buffer against death concerns. Before the college football season began, participants who were reminded about death expressed greater relative preference for a more salient, but less successful college football team over a national college champion basketball team compared to control participants. However, after the football team lost its first game of the season, participants who were reminded about death indicated greater relative preference for the successful basketball team. Results are discussed with regard to the psychological function of social identifications. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Achievement motivation and attributional style as mediators between perfectionism and subjective well-being in Chinese university students

This study examined both the mediation effects of achievement motivation and attributional style on the relationship between perfectionism and subjective well-being in a sample of Chinese university students. Four hundred ninety-three participants with an age range of 18–24 (206 males and 287 females) completed the Hewitt and Flett Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (HMPS), the Achievement Motivation Scale (AMS), the Multidimensional–Multiattributional Causality Scale (MMCS) and the General Well-Being Schedule (GWB). Correlation analysis indicated that perfectionism was positively correlated with subjective well-being. Structural equation modeling exhibited the partial mediation effects of attributional style and achievement motivation on the relationship between perfectionism and subjective well-being. Moreover, a multi-group analysis indicated that the mediation model was not moderated by gender. These findings contribute to the complex nature of the association between perfectionism and subjective well-being. This study’s implications for future research and limitations of the present findings are discussed.     

Associations of students' self-reports of their teachers' verbal aggression, intrinsic motivation, and perceptions of reasons for discipline in Greek physical education classes

In this study were examined associations among physical education teachers' verbal aggressiveness as perceived by students and students' intrinsic motivation and reasons for discipline. The sample consisted of 265 Greek adolescent students who completed four questionnaires, the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale, the Lesson Satisfaction Scale, the Reasons for Discipline Scale, and the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory during physical education classes. Analysis indicated significant positive correlations among students' perceptions of teachers' verbal aggressiveness with pressure/ tension, external reasons, introjected reasons, no reasons, and self-responsibility. Significant negative correlations were noted for students' perceptions of teachers' verbal aggression with lesson satisfaction, enjoyment/interest, competence, effort/importance, intrinsic reasons, and caring. Differences between the two sexes were observed in their perceptions of teachers' verbal aggressiveness, intrinsic motivation, and reasons for discipline. Findings and implications for teachers' type of communication were also discussed and suggestions for research made.     

Internal and external motivation to respond without sexism

Based on Plant and Devine's (1998) measures of Internal and External Motivation to Respond Without Prejudice toward Blacks, new scales were developed to assess Internal and External Motivation to Respond Without Sexism (IMS-S and EMS-S, respectively). The scales possess good psychometric properties. Providing evidence of convergent and discriminant validity, the IMS-S was strongly related to measures of sexism yet unrelated to measures of social evaluation. The EMS-S was modestly related to both sexism and social evaluative concerns. Providing evidence of predictive validity, participants who were either internally or externally motivated to respond without sexism rated sexist jokes more negatively in a situation discouraging sexism compared to participants low in both sources of motivation. However, only high IMS-S participants rated the jokes negatively whether the situation encouraged or discouraged sexism and whether their response was public or private. Implications for understanding the similarities and differences between sexism and racism are discussed.     

MOTIVATION TO LEARN AND COURSE OUTCOMES: THE IMPACT OF DELIVERY MODE, LEARNING GOAL ORIENTATION, AND PERCEIVED BARRIERS AND ENABLERS

This naturally occurring quasi-experiment examined how learning goal orientation (LGO), delivery mode (classroom vs. blended learning), and the perception of barriers and enablers related to motivation to learn and course outcomes. Study participants were 600 students enrolled in either classroom or blended learning courses. As hypothesized, learners in the blended learning condition, high in LGO, and who perceived environmental features as enablers rather than barriers had significantly higher motivation to learn. Motivation to learn, in turn, was significantly related to course outcomes (satisfaction, metacognition, and grades). The mediation hypotheses received partial support. Finally, exploratory analyses revealed 3 significant interactions between delivery mode, LGO, and perceived barriers and enablers on motivation to learn and course satisfaction.     

Parent Motivation to Participate in Treatment: Assessment and Prediction of Subsequent Participation

Treatment motivation is required for virtually all psychosocial treatments because clients must participate actively in the treatment process. In child and family treatments, it is the parent who must be motivated to manage treatment participation; however, no measures are currently available for evaluating parent motivation for treatment. The authors developed and evaluated a brief rating scale, the Parent Motivation Inventory (PMI), to measure parent motivation to participate in treatment. Results supported a uni-dimensional measure with strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Increases in parent motivation predicted the perception of fewer barriers to treatment participation, which was significantly associated with greater treatment attendance. The PMI provides a reliable and valid method of assessing parents’ motivation to participate in treatment and has implications for the prediction and potential modification of barriers to treatment and treatment participation.     

Highlighting the difference between approach and avoidance motivation enhances the predictive validity of performance-avoidance goal reports

Motivation and Emotion - This research investigated whether highlighting the difference between norm-based approach and avoidance motivation impacts performance goal reporting accuracy....     

中国大学生成就动机变迁的横断历史研究:1999~2014

本研究对1999~2014年间88项采用成就动机量表测量中国大学生（共涉及40801名被试）成就动机水平的研究报告进行横断历史元分析,以考察大学生成就动机水平随年代的变化趋势。研究结果表明：（1）追求成功因子与年代的相关不显著,避免失败因子与年代呈显著正相关,而成就动机总分与年代呈显著负相关。这说明,我国大学生成就动机总体水平在这16年间显著降低。（2）男生和女生的成就动机总分与年代均呈显著负相关,追求成功和避免失败因子均与年代没有显著相关,并且在成就动机总分及各因子得分上没有显著性别差异。     

Validation of a German version of the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS28) and motivation analysis in competitive mountain runners

This study validated a German version of the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS28) and investigated the sex-specific and age-related differences in motivation of competitive mountain runners. Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the SMS28 was based on translation and back-translation methodology. Acceptable validity of the German version of the SMS28 was indicated by the high correlations (.81 to .98) of scores on the seven subscales for the English and German versions completed by 15 subjects. Motivation analysis was performed with 127 competitive male and female mountain runners. The seven subscales of the German version showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's coefficient alphas .70 to .85). Findings on motivation of competitive mountain runners were a decline across age groups of Intrinsic motivation toward accomplishment for both sexes and an age-related decline of External regulation only for females. These motivational changes might well be associated with the observed diminishing numbers of older participants in mountain running competitions.     

Effects of instagram sports posts on the athletic motivation of female elite athletes: Do they inspire or backfire?

The social networking site Instagram provides users with an abundance of photos and information in many domains including sports. The posts are often intended to inspire and motivate users. We argue that the display of success and failure of professional athletes may influence elite athletes’ own sports ambitions. Research has shown that exposure to positive ingroup stereotypes and exposure to negative outgroup stereotypes can increase performance (i.e., the stereotype boost effect and the stereotype lift effect, respectively). Based on this research, we conducted three experiments in two different cultural contexts. In all three experiments, we examined whether Instagram posts that showed either ingroup members’ success or outgroup members’ failure influenced athletic motivation, self-efficacy, and sports-related behavioral intentions of female elite athletes. Experiment 1 (n = 117) was conducted in Germany, whereas Experiments 2 (n = 137) and 3 (n = 143) were conducted in Norway. Results showed that in Germany, participants’ athletic motivation and self-efficacy was highest when they were exposed to failing outgroup members (Exp. 1); however, this was not the case in Norway (Exp. 2). In contrast, only Norwegian participants who were exposed to successful ingroup members reported a significant increase in their athletic motivation, but there were no effects regarding self-efficacy and sports-related behavioral intentions (Exp. 3). Boundary conditions for Instagram’s role in motivating users and reasons for the differences between the two cultural contexts are discussed.