Motivation and commitment: towards an integrated model

This dissertation has two focus; the purpose of the first study is to contribute to an empirical understanding of the relationship between autonomous motivation at work and affective commitment. We proposed that there is a relationship between antecedent (i.e. perceived organizational support) and outcome (i.e. intention to leave, satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior toward the organization), mediated by autonomous motivation and affective commitment. Meyer, Becker and Vandenberghe (2004) proposed a model linking organizational commitment to work motivation, where commitment is one component of motivation. We chose a different perspective, that of the Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000); we supported that autonomous motivation is an antecedent of affective commitment. Moreover POS predicted autonomous motivation, the latter predicted affective commitment; all predictors had direct links with outcome. The second focus is a temporal analysis of the relation between organizational commitment and work motivation . Meyer, Becker, and Vandenberghe (2004) recently proposed a model linking work motivation to organizational commitment. They proposed that commitment should be understood as part of a more general motivational process. We hypothesized that Time 1 motivation be related to changes in commitment in the long run, while Time 1 commitment be not related to motivational changes in the long run. One study tested these links longitudinally, with a sample of 81 employees of an Italian manufacture. The Self-determination theory provided the framework to measure work motivation, so that measures of external regulation, introjection, identification, and intrinsic motivation were linked to Allen and Meyer’s (1990) three-component model of organizational commitment. Results support our hypotheses.