Work Locus of Control,Motivational Regulation,Employee Work Passion,and Work Intentions: An Empirical Investigation of an Appraisal Model

In accordance with appraisal theory, relationships among four psychological constructs within an individual are examined: work-specific locus of control, motivational regulation, work passion, and work intentions. A survey was administered electronically to a database of working professionals, and 2654 responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Locus of control variables were significantly related to all three forms of motivational regulation in employees. Three of the five possible relationships between forms of motivational regulation and work passion variables were found to be significant, in part supporting the importance of autonomous regulation to both harmonious passion and obsessive passion in the employee appraisal process. Partial mediation testing indicated that internal locus of control directly contributed somewhat to harmonious passion, and the same was found to be true for external locus of control and obsessive passion. Both work passion variables predicted work intentions, but stronger relationships were found between harmonious passion and work intentions. Findings and practical implications are discussed.