Motivation and Trust: Current Links and Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

Work motivation is a longstanding topic in organizational studies (Latham & Pinder 2005), and several theories and constructs have been proposed to explain which factors compel individuals to choose a course of action, to work hard, and to sustain their effort. According to Locke (1997), one approach to organizing the diverse theories of motivation has been to classify them in terms of their “distance” from, or “closeness” to, the action. A range of theoretical approaches have been developed to analyze outcomes and antecedents of motivation including basic distinctions between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, self-determination theory, analyses of work values, social cognitive theory, prosocial and public service motivation (Perry and Wise 1990, Bolino and Grant 2016, Deci et al. 2017). However, motivation does not stem only from individual characteristics: it is a psychological process resulting from the interaction between the individual and the environment. It is affected by a number of external factors, including incentives (Kuvaas et al. 2016) such as rewards and status, as additional (and not individually-controlled) drivers. For example, while incentive regimes and performance evaluation systems should be designed to encourage collaborative behavior, trust, and motivation (Kuvaas and Dysvik 2009; Searle et al. 2011; Wiemann et al. 2018) in order to enable organizational performance, organizations also often create systems, procedures, and organizational practices that trigger individual misbehavior and wrongdoing such as bribery, fraud, and others which have negative impacts on the motivation and trust of employees.

Starting from these premises and from the more recent approaches to the study of work motivation, this Special Issue aims at exploring the relation of motivation to organizationally relevant antecedents and outcomes such as trust, leadership, goal-setting, and organizational justice. Possible themes may include (but are not exclusive to): 1. Analyses of the effects of different types of work motivation on organizational- and individual-level outcomes, with a view to comparing international differences; 2. Analyses of the link between work motivation and both individual and organizational performance (in particular, identifying boundary conditions, as well as intended and unintended effects); 3. The set of institutional, contextual, and organizational factors that may influence the development or the inhibition of work motivation; 4. The way work motivation relates to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, OCB, leadership, trust, and other concepts related to the area of organizational behavior; 5. Work motivation, well-being, and happiness; 6. Motivation and incentives; and 7. Private–public–non-profit sector differences.

We welcome papers from scholars with diverse disciplinary backgrounds that are eager to contribute to the development of an inter-disciplinary research agenda to investigate work motivation in different social, cultural, political, and economic contexts. We are interested in studies presenting research in all sectors (i.e., private, public, and non-profit). We seek submissions that reflect the wide array of possible methods. That is, we are ultimately looking for an interesting mix of quantitative, qualitative, and conceptual contributions to be included in this Special Issue. We also particularly encourage submissions using methods of meta-analysis, or other forms of research synthesis.

All submissions will be free of charge once accepted.

References:

(Bolino and Grant 2016) Bolino, M. C. and Grant, A. M. 2016. The bright side of being prosocial at work, and the dark side, too: A review and agenda for research on other-oriented motives, behavior, and impact in organizations. Acad. Manag. Ann. 10: 599–670.

(Deci et al. 2017) Deci, E. L., Olafsen, A. H., and Ryan, R. M. 2017. Self-determination theory in work organizations: the state of a science. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav. 4: 19–43.

(Kuvaas and Dysvik 2009) Kuvaas, B., & Dysvik, A. 2009. Perceived investment in employee development, intrinsic motivation and work performance. Hum. Resour. Manag. J. 19: 217–236.

(Kuvaas et al. 2016). Kuvaas, B., Buch, R., Gagné, M., Dysvik, A., and Forest, J. 2016. Do you get what you pay for? Sales incentives and implications for motivation and changes in turnover intention and work effort. Motiv. Emot. 40: 667–680.

(Latham and Pinder 2005). Latham, G. P., and Pinder, C. C. 2005. Work motivation theory and research at the dawn of the twentyfirst century. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 56: 485–516.

(Locke 1997) Locke, E. A. 1997. The motivation to work: What we know. Advances in motivation and achievement 10: 375-412.

(Perry and Wise 1990). Perry, J. L., and Wise, L. R. 1990. The Motivational Bases of Public Service. Public Adm. Rev. 50: 367–373.

(Searle et al. 2011) Searle, R., Hartog, D., Weibel, A., Gillespie, N., Six, F., Hatzakis, T., and Skinner, D. 2011. Trust in the employer: the role of high-involvement work practices and procedural justice in European organizations. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 22: 1069–1092.

(Wiemann et al. 2018) Wiemann, M., Meidert, N., and Weibel, A. (2018). “Good” and “Bad” Control in Public Administration: The Impact of Performance Evaluation Systems on Employees’ Trust in the Employer. Public Pers. Manag., available online first at DOI: 10.1177/0091026018814560

Prof. Dr. Fabian Homberg
Guest Editor

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