1989 Deci Connell Ryan

8/13/2019 1989 Deci Connell Ryan

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S E L F -D E T E R MIN A T IO N A T WO R K 5 8 1

t h a t c h o i c e ( Z u c k e r m a n , P o r a c , L a t h i n , S m i t h , & D e c i , 1 9 7 8)

a n d p o s i t i v e f e e d b a c k (B la n c k , R e i s , & J a c k s o n , 1 9 8 4 ; D e c i ,

1 9 7 1 ) t e n d to b e e x p e r i e n c e d a s in fo rm a t io n a l , w h e re a s t a s k -

c o n t in g e n t r e w a rd s (e .g ., R y a n , M im s , & K o e s tn e r , 1 9 83 ), d e a d -

l in e s (A m a b i l e , D e J o n g , & L o p p e r , 1 9 76 ), t h re a t s o f p u n i s h -

m e n t (D e c i & C a s c io , 1 9 7 2 ) , s u rv e i l l a n c e (L e p p e r & G re e n e ,

1 9 75 ), a n d e v a lu a t io n s (S m i th , 1 9 7 4 ) t e n d to b e e x p e r i e n c e d a s

c o n t ro l l i n g .Mo re r e c e n t s tu d ie s h a v e s h o w n , h o w e v e r , t h a t a l th o u g h a

spec if ic even t (e .g . , pos i t ive feedbac k) tends , o n average , to have

a p a r t i c u la r fu n c t io n a l s ig n i f i c a n c e , t h e in t e rp e r s o n a l c o n te x t

w i t h i n w h i c h t h e e v e nt i s a d m i n i s t e r e d h a s a n i m p o r t a n t i n f lu -

e n c e o n th e fu n c t io n a l s ig n i f i c a n c e o f t h e e v e n t . T h u s , fo r e x a m -

p le , R y a n (1 9 8 2 ) r e p o r t e d th a t p o s i t i v e f e e d b a c k c o u ld b e e x p e -

r i e n c e d a s e ith e r i n fo rm a t io n a l or c o n t ro l l i n g , d e p e n d in g o n th e

e x p e r im e n te r ' s s ty l e o f c o m m u n ic a t io n . S im i l ar ly , R y a n , Mim s ,

a n d K o e s t n e r ( 1 9 8 3 ) c o n c l u d e d t h a t p e r f o r m a n c e - c o n t i n g e n t

re w a rd s c o u ld b e e i th e r i n fo rm a t io n a l o r c o n t ro l l i n g , a n d

K o e s tn e r , R y a n , B e rn ie r i , a n d H o l t (1 9 8 4 ) c o n c lu d e d th a t l im i t

s e t t i n g c o u ld b e e i th e r i n fo rm a t io n a l o r c o n t ro l l i n g , a g a in d e -

p e n d in g o n th e in t e rp e r s o n a l c o n te x t s s u r ro u n d in g th e e v e n t sthemse lves .

A fo c u s o n th e in t e rp e r s o n a l c o n te x t w i th in w h ic h e v e n t s o c -

c u r s e e m s p a r t i c u l a rl y i m p o r t a n t w h e n a p p l y i n g th e s e c o n c e p t s

to o rg a n iz a t io n a l s e t t in g s , b e c a u s e m a n y e v e n t s s u c h a s r e w a rd

s t ru c tu re s , e v a lu a t io n s , a n d d e a d l in e s a re r e l a t iv ely in v a r i a n t i n

th e s e s et ti ng s. In t e rp e r s o n a l c o n te x t s w i th in o rg a n iz a t io n s a re

m o re v a r i a b le , h o w e v e r , s o th e y r e p re s e n t a n o p p o r tu n i ty fo r

e x p la in in g v a r i a t io n in e m p lo y e e s ' a t t i t u d e s a n d fo r d e s ig n in g

i n t e r v en t i o n s t o e n h a n c e t h e m .

T h e f i r st f ie ld s tu d ie s c o n d u c te d w i th in th i s t h e o re t i c a l t r a d i -

t i o n r e l a t e d th e in t e rp e r s o n a l c o n te x t s o f p u b l i c s c h o o l c l a s s -

ro o m s to s tu d e n t s ' a t t i t u d e s a n d m o t iv a t io n ( e . g . , D e c i ,

S c h w a r t z , S h e in m a n , & R y a n , 1 9 8 1 ; R y a n & C o n n e l l , i n p res s ;

R y a n & G ro ln ic k , 1 9 86 ). T h e s e s tu d ie s s h o w e d , fo r e x a m p le ,

t h a t t e a c h e r s w h o w e r e o r i e n t e d t o w a r d s u p p o r t i n g s t u d e n t s '

s e l f -d e te rm in a t io n h a d a p o s i t iv e e f f e ct o n th e in t r in s i c m o t iv a -

t io n , s e l f -e s t e em , a n d p e rc e iv e d c o m p e te n c e o f th e i r s tu d e n t s ,

r e l a tiv e to t e a c h e r s w h o w e re o r i e n te d to w a rd c o n t ro l l i n g th e i r

s tuden ts ' behav ior .

A s y n th e s i s o f t h e s e a n d o th e r s tu d ie s h a s l e d to th e c o n c lu -

s io n th a t p ro m o t in g s e l f -d e te rm in a t io n r e q u i re s th a t t h e s ig -

n i f i c a n t o th e r s in a t a rg e t p e r s o n ' s c o n te x t ( e .g ., p a re n t s , m a n a g -

e rs , t ea c h e r s ) ta k e th a t p e r s o n ' s f r a m e o f r e fere n c e . T h e y m u s t

u n d e r s t a n d a n d a c k n o w le d g e h i s o r h e r n e e d s , f ee ling s, a n d a t t i -

t u d e s w i th r e s p e c t t o th e i ss u e o r s i t u a t io n a t h a n d . W h e n th i s

i s t h e c a s e , th e t a rg e t p e r s o n w i l l b e m o re t ru s t in g o f t h e c o n te x t

a n d b e l i ev e th a t i t w i l l b e r e s p o n s iv e to h i s o r h e r i n i t i a t io n s a n dsugges t ions .

More spec if ica l ly , the inves t iga t ions have iden t i f ied the fo l-

lo w in g th re e g e n e ra l f a c to r s: ( a) s u p p o r t fo r a u to n o m y (e .g .,

D e c i , N e z le k , & S h e in m a n , 1 9 81 ) ; (b ) n o n c o n t ro l l i n g p o s i ti v e

fe e d b a c k ( e .g ., R y a n , 1 9 82 ) ; a n d ( c ) a c k n o w le d g in g th e o th e r ' s

pe rspec t ive (e .g . , Koe s tne r e t a l . , 1984). Th ese fac to rs a re c r i t i -

c a l fo r p ro m o t in g s e l f -d e te rm in a t io n ( i . e . , fo r i n c re a s in g th e

l ik e l ih o o d th a t a n in t e rp e r s o n a l c o n te x t w i l l b e e x p e r i e n c e d a s

in fo rm a t io n a l ) .

A l th o u g h n o n e o f t h e s e stu d ie s o n s e l f -d e te rm in a t io n w a s

d o n e in a w o rk o rg a n iz a t io n , t h e g e n e ra l c o n c lu s io n s d ra w n

f ro m th e m a re c o n s i s t e n t w i th o rg a n iz a t io n a l s tu d ie s s u c h a s

t h o s e b y C o c h a n d F r e n c h ( 1 9 4 8 ), L a w l e r a n d H a c k m a n ( 1 9 69 ) ,

L iker t (1967) , Marrow e t a l . (1967) , and Scheflen , Lawle r , and

H a c k m a n (1 9 7 1 ) , w h ic h h a v e s h o w n p o s i t i v e , m o t iv a t io n a l ly

re l e v a n t e f f ec t s o f f a c to r s s u c h a s p a r t i c ip a t io n , s u p p o r t fo r i n d i -

v i d u a l i n it ia t iv e , a n d o p e n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e

fa c to r s t h a t t e n d t o b e e x p e r i e n c e d a s d im in i s h in g s e l f -d e te rm i -

n a t i o n a r e o n e s t h a t w o r k e rs t e n d t o c o m p l a i n a b o u t i n i n t e r-

v iews (e .g . , Terke l, 1972) and th a t com pri se L ik er t ' s (1967) Sys -t e m 1 m a n a g e m e n t . T h e re fo re , i t s e e m s u s e fu l t o t e s t d i r e c t ly

t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f p r o m o t i n g s e l f - d e t er m i n a t i o n i n t h e w o r k -

p la c e ; t h u s , o u r r e s e a rc h w a s d e s ig n e d to d o th a t b y fo c u s in g o n

in te rp e r s o n a l v a r i a b le s b e tw e e n m a n a g e r s a n d th e i r s u b o rd i -

na tes .

T h e s tu d ie s th a t h a v e e x p lo re d th e e f f ec t s o f p ro m o t in g s el f-

d e te rm in a t io n h a v e u s e d a r a n g e o f d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b le s , i n c lu d -

ing in t r ins ic mo tiva t io n (e .g. , Zu ck er m an e t a l . , 1978) , pos i t ive

e m o t io n a l t o n e (G a r b a r in o , 1 9 75 ) , c r e a tiv i ty (e . g ., K o e s tn e r e t

a l ., 1984) , in te res t in the ac t iv i ty (Ha rack ie wic z , 1979) , con cep -

tu a l l e a rn in g (G ro ln ic k & R y a n , 1 9 8 7 ) , p e rc e iv e d c o m p e te n c e

a n d s e l f- e s t ee m (D e c i e t a l. , 1 9 8 l ) , a n d in t e rn a l i z a t io n o f r e g u -

l a t io n s (E g h ra r i & D e c i , 1 9 88 ) . In th i s s tu dy , t h e d e p e n d e n tvar iab les were the subord ina tes ' pe rcep t ions , a ffec ts , and sa t is -

f a c ti o n s w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e ir i m m e d i a t e w o r k t e a m a n d t h e c o r -

p o ra t io n m o re g e n eral ly . W e re a s o n e d th a t w h e n m a n a g e r s p ro -

v id e a c o n te x t t h a t p ro m o te s s e l f -d e te rm in a t io n , s u b o rd in a te s

w i l l t ru s t t h e c o n te x t a n d th u s b e m o re a c t iv e in s a t i s fy in g th e i r

o w n n e e d s .

T h i s s tu d y h a d tw o in t e r r e l a t e d c o m p o n e n t s . T h e f i r s t e x -

p lo re d th e r e l a t io n o f m a n a g e r s ' i n t e rp e r s o n a l o r i e n ta t io n s ( i .e .,

t h e e x t e n t t o w h i c h t h e y t e n d t o s u p p o r t t h e s e l f - d e te r m i n a t i o n

o f th e ir s u b o rd in a te s ) t o a v a r i e ty o f s u b o rd in a te v a r i a b le s ; t h e

s e c o n d e v a lu a te d a n in t e rv e n t io n th a t fo c u s e d o n t r a in in g th e s e

s a m e m a n a g e r s t o p r o m o t e t h e s e l f -d e t e r m i n a ti o n o f t h e i r s u b -

o r d i n at e s . T h e i d e a s o f a u t o n o m y s u p p o r t , n o n c o n t r o l l i n g f ee d -

b a c k , a n d a c k n o w l e d g m e n t o f th e s u b o r d i n a t e ' s p e r sp e c ti v eg u id e d th e r e s e a rc h ; t h e s e id e a s w e re im p l i c i t i n th e m e a s u re o f

m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n ta t io n s a n d w e re th e fo c i o f t h e in t e rv e n t io n .

Wi th r e g a rd to th e s u b o rd in a te s , w e e x p lo re d v a r i a b le s r e l a t e d

t o t h e i r a tt i t u de s a b o u t w o r k a n d t h e i r m o t i v a t io n t o p e r f o r m

effec tively . The se inc lu ded p e rcep t ion s o f the con te x t , fee l ings

w i th in th a t c o n te x t , a n d s a t i s f a c t io n w i th v a r io u s a s p e c t s o f t h e

c o n t e x t a n d t h e jo b .

T h e g e n e ra l p r e d i c t io n w a s t h a t p o s it iv e o u t c o m e s w o u l d b e

a s s o c ia t e d w i th m a n a g e r s ' i n t e rp e r s o n a l o r i e n ta t io n s th a t a re

s u p p o r t iv e o f s e lf -d e te rm in a t io n , a n d n e g a t iv e o u tc o m e s w o u ld

b e a s s o c ia t e d w i th o r i e n ta t io n s th a t a re c o n t ro l l i n g a n d th u s

u n d e r m i n i n g o f s e l f - d et e r m i n a ti o n .

M e t h o d

T h e W o r k S e t t in g a n d t h e o r p o ra t e l i m a t e

Data for this research were provided by nearly 1,000 emp loyees--technicians and field managers--in the service division of a major o fficemachine corporation. T he technicians spend virtually all of their time

on the road repairing office machines, whereas their managers workin geog raphically organized branch oifices. Th e ma nagers and techni-cians have relatively little direct contact, althou gh the manag ers are re-

sponsible for the w ork of the 18 or so technicians on their w ork team.Their typical contacts include the sub ordinates' briefly seeing the m an-ager once a w eek to hand in time cards, occasionally speaking to the

Edited by Foxit ReaderCopyright(C) by Foxit Corporation,2005-2010For Evaluation Only.



58 E . D E C I , J . C O N N E L L , A N D R . R Y A N

m a n a g e r b y p h o n e , a n d i n f r e q u e n t ly a t t e n d i n g t e a m m e e t i n g s ( m o n t h ly ,

on average).

T h e d a t a c o l l ec t i o n i n t h e s e s t u d i e s to o k p l a c e o v e r a n 1 8 - m o n t h p e -

r i o d , s p a n n i n g 3 c a l e n d a r y e a rs ( A u g u st o f Y e a r l t o F e b r u a r y o f Y e a r

3 ) , in f i ve d i f f e r en t l oca t ions ( r e f e r r ed t o as L oca t ions I t h r ou gh 5 ) f r om

f ive d i f f e r en t s ta t es : Ca l i f o r n i a , U tah , W ash ing ton , N ew Yor k , and Co lo -

r a d o . I n Y e a r l , t h e c o r p o r a t i o n w a s e x p e r i e n c i n g p r o f i ta b i l i ty a n d m o -

r a l e p ro b l e m s . T h e w o r k f o rc e h a d b e e n r e d u c e d a n d w a g es h a d b e e n

f r o ze n . P e o p l e w e re c o n c e r n e d a b o u t t h e i r j o b s e c u r i t y a n d d i s g r u n t l e d

abo u t t he pay f r eeze .

C o r p o r a t e m a n a g e m e n t r e s p o n d e d t o t h e t r o u b l e d t im e s i n a v a r i e t y

o f w ay s, a l t h o u g h a c e n t r a l f e a tu r e o f t h e i r r e sp o n s e w a s a c o m m i t m e n t

t o c h a n g e t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n c l im a t e t o w a r d m o r e p a r t ic i p a t iv e m a n a g e -

m e n t a n d e m p l o y e e i n v o l v e m e n t . D u r i n g t h e e n s u i n g y e a r s , t h i s r e -

s u l te d i n ( a ) a n e n o r m o u s a m o u n t o f t r a i n i n g fo r t h e r o u g h ly 1 5 ,0 0 0

p e o p l e i n t h e s e r v i c e o r g a n i z a t i o n ; ( b ) c r e a t i o n o f p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g

g r o u p s , u s i n g t h e q u a l i t y - ci r c le f o r m a t ; ( c ) re s t r u c t u r i n g o f w o r k t e a m s

t o p r o m o t e t e c h n i c i a n s ' t a k i n g g r e a t e r r e s p o n s i b i l it y f o r s o l v in g t h e i r

o w n p r o b l e m s ; a n d ( d ) e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f p o s i t i o n s f o r i n t e rn a l , o r g a n i z a -

t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t c o n s u l t a n t s to w o r k w i t h e x t e r n a l c o n s u l t a n t s i n f a -

c i l i t a t i ng t he des i r ed change .

I n m o t i v a t i o n a l t er m s , w i t h t h i s m a s s i v e o r g a n iz a t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t

e f f o r t , t h e c o m p a n y a t t e m p t e d t o p r o v i d e g r e a t e r s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n

a n d t h u s t o f a c il i ta t e g re a t e r i n t r i n s i c m o t i v a t i o n a n d p e r s o n a l c o m m i t -

me n t (e .g. , Lawler , 1973; Vr oom Dec i , 1970). I n so f a r a s t h i s cou ld be

accom pl i shed , i t was expec t ed t ha t a v a r i e ty o f mo t iva t iona l ly re l evan t

var i ab l es wou ld be pos i t i ve ly a f f ec t ed and wou ld r esu l t i n impr oved

pr o f i tab i l i ty . Our r esea r ch exp lo r ed a se t o f mo t iva t iona l ly r e l evan t pe r -

ceptu al , af fect ive, and sat isfa ct ion var iables.

T h e t r a i n i n g c o m p o n e n t o f t h i s s t u d y w a s m e r e l y t h e f ir s t p h a s e o f

the l a r ge change e f f o r t i n t h r ee se r v i ce b r anch es ( L oca t ions l , 2 , an d 3 ) ,

e a c h o f w h i c h e m p l o y e d a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 4 0 p eo p l e. T h e t r a i n i n g f o-

c u s e d o n i n t e r p e rs o n a l is s u e s a n d w a s i n t e n d e d t o p r e p a r e t h e e m p l o y -

e e s f or t h e s t r u c t u r a l c h a n g e s t h a t w o u l d b e i n t r o d u c e d a f t e r t h i s s t u d y

w a s c o m p l e t e d . T h e i n t e r v e n t i o n t o o k p l a c e a t a t i m e , d u r i n g Y e a r 2 ,

w h e n m o r a l e w a s l o w , a n d m a n y t e c h n i c i a n s r e s p o n d e d w i t h i n i t i a l

s k e p t ic i s m . M o s t f ie l d m a n a g e rs , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t e n d e d t o b e i n t e r -

es t ed i n t he t r a in ing because t hey be l i eved it was r e l evan t t o t he l a r ge rc h a n g e e ff o r t t h a t t o p m a n a g e m e n t h a d e n d o r s e d .

Overview

I n t h i s p r o j e c t w e u s e d a d u a l a p p r o a c h t o e x p l o r e th e r e l a t i o n b e -

t w e e n m a n a g e r s ' s u p p o r t f o r s e l f -d e t e r m i n a t i o n a n d s u b o r d i n a t e s ' s e lf -

r epor t ed pe r cep t ions , a f fec ts , an d sa t i s f ac t i ons . F ir s t , t he i n t e r pe r son a l

o r i e n t a t io n s o f m a n a g e r s f r o m t h r e e b r a n c h e s ( L o c a t i o n s 1 , 2 , a n d 3 )

wer e assessed a t t h r ee po in t s i n t im e and wer e co r r e l a t ed w i th t he se l f-

r e p o r t s o f t h e i r s u b o r d i n a t e s a t t h o s e s a m e t h r e e t i m e s . S e c o n d , a n i n t e r -

v e n t i o n t h a t f o c u s e d o n t r a i n i n g t h e m a n a g e r s t o s u p p o r t t h e i r s u b o r d i -

n a t e s ' s e l f - d e t e rm i n a t i o n w a s c o n d u c t e d i n L o c a t i o n 1 b et w e e n t h e f ir s t

a n d s e c o n d a s s e s s m e n t s o f m a n a g e r s a n d s u b o r d i n a t e s , a n d i n L o c a t i o n s

2 a n d 3 b e t w e e n t h e s e c o n d a n d t h i r d a s s e s s m e n t s , C h a n g e s i n m a n a g e r s '

o r i en t a t i ons and subor d ina t es ' se l f - r epor t s wer e ca l cu l a t ed t o eva lua t et h e i n t e r v e n t i o n . W e w i ll n o w d e s c r i b e t h e d e s i g n a n d t i m e l i n e o f t h e

p r i m a r y a s s e s s m e n t s a n d i n t e r v e n ti o n s , w h i c h a r e s h o w n i n F i g u r e 1 .

A t t h e t h r e e p o i n t s i n t i m e ( J a n u a r y o f Y e a r 2 , M a y o f Y e a r 2 , a n d

F e b r u a r y o f Y e a r 3 ), t h e m a n a g e r s c o m p l e t e d t h e P r o b l e m s a t W o r k

ques t ionna i r e , wh ich assessed the i r t endency to suppor t t he se l f - de t e r -

m i n a t i o n v e r s u s t o c o n t r o l t h e b e h a v i o r o f t h e i r s u b o rd i n a t e s . T h e s u b -

o r d ina t es (i .e ., t he t echn ic i ans) comple t e d t he Wo r k Cl ima te Sur vey ,

w h i c h a s s e s se d t h e i r re a c t i o n s t o t h e i r i m m e d i a t e w o r k p l a c e a n d t o t h e

c o r p o r a t i o n a n d i t s t o p m a n a g e m e n t . C o r r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n v a r i a b l e s

f r om these two ques t i onna i r es ( wh ich a r e desc r ibed l a t e r ) wer e ca l cu -

l a t e d f o r e a c h o f t h e t h r e e p o i n t s i n t i m e , u s i n g w o r k t e a m s a s t h e u n i t

o f a n a l y si s . T h e w o r k t e a m s w e r e r e a s o n a b l y s ta b l e o v e r th e p e r i o d o f

t h e s t u d y, w i t h a l o w tu r n o v e r r a t e , a l t h o u g h t h e p e o p l e w h o c o m p l e t e d

t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e a t t h e t h r e e t i m e s v a r i e d s o m e w h a t b e c a u s e o f s u c h

f ac to r s a s vaca t ions and i l l ness . T hus , f o r t hese co r r e l a t i ona l ana lyses ,

t h e s u b j e c t s w e re s o m e w h a t d i f f e re n t a t e a c h p o i n t i n t i m e .

D u r i n g t h e 1 3 - m o n t h p e r i o d b e t w e e n t h e f i rs t a n d t h i r d a s s e s s m e n ts ,

a d e l a y e d - t r e a t m e n t s t ra t e g y w a s u s e d t o e v a l u a te a n i n t e r v e n t i o n a i m e d

a t h e l p i n g th e m a n a g e r s i n t h e p r o j e c t b e c o m e m o r e s u p p o r t i v e o f th e i r

s u b o r d i n a t e s ' s e l f -d e t e r m i n a t io n . F r o m F e b r u a r y t h r o u g h A p r i l o f Y e a r

2 , t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n w a s c o n d u c t e d i n L o c a t i o n 1 . T h u s , c h a n g e f r o m t h e

f i rs t t o t he second assessm en t (i .e . , Janu ar y t o May o f Year 2 ) i n t heo r i e n t a t i o n s o f th e m a n a g e r s f r o m L o c a t i o n 1 ( w h o h a d r e c e iv e d t h e

i n t e r v e n t i o n ) r e la t iv e t o t h a t o f t h e m a n a g e r s f r o m L o c a t i o n s 2 a n d 3

( who ha d n o t ye t r ece ived the i n t e r ven t io n ) cons t i t u t ed t he f i rs t a spec t

o f t h e e v a l u a t io n . T h e d a t a f r o m t h e f ir s t t w o c o m p l e t i o n s b y t h e m a n a g -

e r s o f th e P r o b l e m s a t W o r k q u e s t i o n n a i r e p r o v i d e d t h i s o u t c o m e v a r i -

a b l e. R e l a ti v e c h a n g e s in s u b o r d i n a t e s ' e x p e r i e n c e o v e r th e s a m e t i m e

p e r i o d c o n s t i t u t e d t h e s e c o n d a s p e c t o f t h e e v a l u a t i o n a n d p r o v i d e d a n

i n d i c a t i o n o f w h e t h e r t h e e f fe c ts o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n h a d , o v e r t h e s h o r t -

t e r m , r a d i a t e d t o t h e s u b o r d i n a t e s . T h i s a s s e s s m e n t o f s u b o r d i n a t e v a r i -

a b l e s u s e d t h e s u b o r d i n a t e s ' r e s p o n s e s o n t h e W o r k C l i m a t e S u r v e y a t

t he f i r s t two assessmen t po in t s . Fo r t hese change ana lyses , a r epea t ed

m e a s u r e s p r o c e d u r e w a s u s e d ; t h u s , o n l y t h e s u b j e c ts w h o w e r e p r e s e n t

a t b o t h t i m e s w e r e i n c l u d e d i n t h o s e a n a ly s e s .

A l t h o u g h i t s e e m e d r e a s o n a b l e t o e x p e c t t h a t t h e m a n g e r s ' o r i e n t a -

t i o n s w o u l d b e a f fe c t ed d u r i n g t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n p e r i o d , i t w a s p r o b a b l y

n o t r e a s o n a b l e t o e x p e c t t h e c h a n g e t o r a d i a t e t o t h e s u b o r d i n a t e s t h a t

qu i ck ly , because t he m anager s and subo r d ina t es spen t so l i tt l e t ime to -

ge the r. Ye t , t he assessm en t was done a t t ha t t ime be cause o f t he o r gan i -

za t i on ' s needs .

I n M a y a n d J u n e o f Y e a r 2 , t h e i n te r v e n t i o n w a s c o n d u c t e d i n L o c a -

t i o n 2 , a n d f r o m S e p t e m b e r t h r o u g h N o v e m b e r o f t h a t s a m e y e a r i t

w a s c o n d u c t e d i n L o c a t i o n 3 . B y t h e t i m e o f th e t h i r d d a t a c o l l e ct i o n

( Feb r uar y o f Year 3 ) , al l t h r ee l oca t ions had r ece ived t ra in ing . T hu s ,

t h e r e w a s a m u c h l a r g e r g r o u p f o r d e t e r m i n i n g l o n g er t e r m p r e - p o s t

c h a n g e s, a n d i t w a s e x p e c t e d t h a t r a d i a t i o n w o u l d h a v e o c c u r r e d i n t h a t

a m o u n t o f t im e . T h e p r o b l e m , h o we ve r, i s t h a t t h e r e w a s n o l o n ge r a

c o m p a r i s o n g r o u p , b e c a u s e L o c a t i o n s 2 a n d 3 , w h i c h h a d c o m p r i s e d

t h a t g r o u p , w e r e n o w p a r t o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n g ro u p . C o n s e q u e n t ly , a n

a d d i t i o n a l c o m p a r i s o n w a s m a d e b y u s i n g o t h e r s u b o r d i n a t e d a t a . T h et i m e l i n e f o r th i s a p p e a r s i n F i g u r e 2 .

I n t w o o f t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l b r a n c h e s ( L o c a t io n s 1 a n d 2 ) , a n E m -

p loyee At t i t ude Survey, w h ich i s rou t ine ly ad min i s t e r ed by the o r gan i -

z a t i o n a b o u t e v e r y 1 2 t o 1 4 m o n t h s , h a d c o i n c i d e n t a ll y b e e n a d m i n i s -

t e r e d s h o r t l y b e f o r e a n d t h e n a g a i n s e v e r al m o n t h s a f t e r t h e r e s p e c t iv e

i n t e r v e n t io n s . I n a d d i t i o n , b r a n c h e s f r o m t w o o t h e r s t a t e s ( L o c a t i o n s 4

a n d 5 ) h a d t a k e n t h e E m p l o y e e A t t i t u d e S u r v e y o n t h e s a m e s c h e d u l e s

as t hese two in t e r v en t io n b r anches . M or e p r ec ise ly , L oca t ions l and 4

c o m p l e t e d t h e s u r v e y i n A u g u s t o f Y e a r I a n d A u g u s t o f Y e a r 2, w h e r e a s

L o c a t i o n s 2 a n d 5 c o m p l e t e d i t i n D e c e m b e r o f Y e a r 1 a n d D e c e m b e r

o f Y e a r 2 . B e c a u s e n e i t h e r L o c a t i o n 4 o r 5 h a d y e t b e e n e x p o s e d t o t h i s

i n t e r v e n t i o n o r t o a n y o f t h e t r a i n i n g o r s t r u c t u r a l c h a n g e s i n v o l v e d

in t he l a r ge co r por a t e e f f o r t t o change the o r gan iza t iona l c l ima te , t hey

r e p r e s e n t e d a n a p p r o p r i a t e c o m p a r i s o n g r o u p . A g l o b a l s a t i sf a c t io n i n -

d e x d e r i v ed f r o m t h e E m p l o y e e A t t i t u d e S u r v e y w a s u s e d a s p a r t o f t h el o n g - te r m e v a l u a t i o n o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n , a n d t h e c h a n g e f o r t h e t w o

i n t e r v e n t i o n b r a n c h e s ( L o c a t i o n s l a n d 2 ) r el a ti v e to t h e t w o c o n t r o l

b r a n c h e s ( L o c a t i o n s 4 a n d 5 ) w a s t h e c r it i c a l c o m p a r i s o n .

nstruments

T h r e e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s w er e u s e d i n t h i s r e se a r c h . T w o o f t h e m - - t h e

P r o b l e m s a t W o r k q u e s t i o n n a i r e a n d t h e W o r k C l i m a t e S u r v e y - - w e r e

d e s i g n e d a n d a d m i n i s t e r e d b y u s , w h e r ea s t h e t h i r d - - t h e E m p l o y e e A t -

t i t u d e S u r v e y - - w a s d e s i g n e d a n d a d m i n i s t e r e d b y t h e p e r s o n n e l d e p a r t -

m e n t o f t h e c o r p o r a t i o n a s p a r t o f i t s n o r m a l p r o c e d u r e s . F o r t h e t w o

q u e s t i o n n a i r e s w e a d m i n i s t e r e d , r e s p o n d e n t s u s e d i n d i v i d u a l i z ed c o d e

n a m e s s o t h a t t h e i r r e s p o n s e s c o u l d b e a n o n y m o u s w h i l e s ti ll a ll o w i n g



SELF-DETERMINATION AT WORK 583

F I R S T S E C O N D T H I R D

A S S E S S M E N T ~ ~ I N T E R V E N T I O N I N T E R VI ~ N T IO N A S S E S S M E N T

P A W W C S L o c a ti o n P A W W C S L o c a ti o n L o c a ti o n P A W W C S

1 2 3L o c a t i o n s L o c a t i o n s L o c a t i o n s

1 ,2 ,3 1 ,2 ,3 1 ,2 ,3

J a n u a r y F e b r u a r y M a y M a y t o S e p t e m b e r F e b r u a r y

t o A p r i l J u n e t o N o v e m b e r

Y e a r 2 Y e a r 2 Y e a r 2 Y e a r 2 Y e a r 2 Y e a r 3

Fi g u re 1 . Design and time line for the pri mary assessments and interventions that covered a 13-month

period dur ing 2 o f the calendar years, designated as Years 2 and 3. (PAW refers to the Problems at Work

questionnaire, whic h assessed managers' orientations; WCS refers to the Work Clima te Survey, which as-

sessed subordinates ' perceptions, affects, and satisfactions.)

their data from different points in time to be compared. For the Em-

ployee Attitude Survey, there was no identifying informa tion except for

location.T h e P r o b l e m s a t W o r k P A W ) q u e st i o n na i r e w a s designed for use in

this research to assess managers' orientations. The questionnai re format

was patterned after the Problems in Schools questionnaire (Deci,

Schwartz, Sheinman, Ryan, 198 l), which had previously been devel-

oped, using the same constructs, to assess teachers' interpersonal orien-

tations. The ins trume nt comprise s eight vignettes, each one describing

a typical problem that a manager might encoun ter with a subordinate.

Following each vignette are four possible ways of dealing with the prob-

lem. These four respons es vary in the degree to which sup port for self-

determinati on is present, in othe r words, in the degree to whic h facilitat-

ing autonomy, providing noncontrolling feedback, and acknowledging

the subordinates' perspective are implicit in that response. One of the

four responses for each vignette is considered h i g h l y su p p o r t i v e of self-

determina tion: It involves the manager listening, acknowledging feel-

ings, providing feedback if appropriate, and encouraging the subordi-

nate to decide how to ha ndle problems. A s ample response for the vi-

gnette o f a poorly perfo rming work group is: Have discussions with the

group t o facilitate the membe rs' devising strategies for improving out-

put. A second response to ea ch vignette is considered m o d e r a t e l y s u p -

p o r t i v e of self-determinati on: The manager encourages the subordinat e

to figure out a solution to the p robl em by observing how others, who

are n ot having trouble, would handle that situation. This response en-

courages less auton omy because the subordinates may tend to use some-

one else's solution rather than their own and to focus on social com pari-

son, which ca n be controlling. Still, it is some what supportive of self-

determination because it does not prescribe a solution. An example s

Show him some o f the ways others relate to t heir customer s so he cancompare his own style to theirs. A third response to each vignette is

considered moderate ly contro l l ing and thus undermining of self-deter-

mination: The manager tells the subordinate what he or she s h o u l d do

to deal with a problem. An example is: Impres s upon her that she should

keep up w ith her work schedule for her own good. Finally, e ach vignette

has a response that is high ly contro ll ing and thus most undermining of

self-determination: The manager prescribes a solution, with no inp uts

from the subordinate, and uses sanctions such as rewards or punish-

ments to ensure tha t the solution is used. An exampl e is: Insist that the

orders be carr ied out wit hin a specified time l imit and check to be sure

he is meeting those deadlines.

Respondent s read a vignette and then rate each r esponse on a 7 -point

Likert-type scale for the ext ent to which th at response is characteri stic

of what they would do if faced with the problem situation. Their ratings

for each of the four types of responses are summed across the eight

vignettes, giving a score for each of the four subscales. As mentio ned,

the four type s of responses were designed to vary along an underlying

dimensio n of support for self-dete rmination, and, in fact, the corre-

lations among subscale scores did conf orm to a si mplex pattern (Gutt -

man, 1954). Thus, we formed a composite score reflecting a perso n's

level of this dimension by combining the four subscale scores, using

weightings of +2, + l, - 1, and - 2 for the h i g h l y su p p o r t i v e of self-deter-

mination, m o d era t e l y su p p o r t i v e of self-determination,m o d e ra t e l y co n -

trolling, and high ly contro ll ing subscales, respectively. This pattern of

F I R S T F I R S T S E C O N D S E C O N D

A T T I T U D E A T T I T U D E A T T I T U D E A T T I T U D E

S U R V E Y S U R V E Y ~ I N T E R V E N T I O N S U R V E Y ~ ;U R V E Y

L o c a t i o n s L o c a t i o n s L o c a U o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n s L o c a t i o n s

1 4 2 5 1 2 1 4 2 5

A u g u s t D e c e m b e r F e b r u a r y M a y t o A u g u s t D e c e m b e r

t o A p r i l J u n e

Y e a r I Y e a r I Y e a r 2 Y e a r 2 Y e a r 2 Y e a r 2

F i g u r e 2. Design and time line used to evaluate the intervention with the corporati on's Employee Attitude

Survey. (The in terventions for Locations l and 2 are, o f course, the same ones referred to in Figure 1 )



58 4 E. DECI, J. CONNELL, AND R. RYAN

weightings possesses two imp ort ant characteristi cs, as follows: (a) It

weights support of self-determinationpositively and cont rol of behavior

negatively, and (b) it weights the stronger instance of e ach more heavily

than t he weaker instance. Thus, high scores on the composit e indicate

that managers are supportive of self-determination, whereas low (or

negative) scores indicate that they are undermi ning of self-determina -

tion.

A preli minary scale consisted of 12 vignettes; 46 managers from the

same company completed that version, although none of the respon-

dents came fro m the five locations of this research. Ite m-total corr e-

lations and factor analyses (princ ipal-c omponents with vari max rota-

tion) were conducted, and 8 vignettes, whose responses correlated in

the predicted fashion and also loaded appropriately, were retained.

When the actual data were collected from Locations 1, 2, and 3, the

item-total correlations and factor analyses were repeated to confirm

that the integrity of the scale's structure remained. Cronbach alphas,

assessing internal consistency of the total scale score at Times 1 and 3,

were .70 and .75, respectively, and the test- rete st reliability of the mea-

sure for a sample of 13 managers over a 4-mo nth per iod was .80.

The Work Cl imate Survey WC S) was patterned after and used some

items from the Job Diagnostic Survey (Hackm an & Oldham, 1975,

1980), although it was tailored to the present organization and to the

issues being studied. It consisted of three parts. The first part included

items that ~ssessed subordinates' perceptions of various aspects of their

work climate and jobs. Subjects rated, on a 7-point scale, items such as

To what ext ent does your supervisor let you know how well you are

doing on your job? Factor analyses (princi pal-comp onents with vari-

max rotations) and i tem-total correla tions were conducted, using data

from a prelim inary sample of 257 responde nts who did not pa rticipate

in any other aspects of the research. On the basis of these analyses, we

made various modifications. Additional analyses were then done on the

data from the first assessment of 204 subjects in Locations 1, 2, and

3. These analyses revealed the following: First, there were 2 three-item

factors--PerceivedFreedom on the Job and Trust in the Corpora tion- -

whose factor loadings were all in excess of .75. Cronbach alphas for

these two subscales were .51 for Perceived Freedom, and .80 for Trust.

The internal consistency of the Perceived Freedom factor was consid-

ered inadequate. Subsequent interviews with a subset of respondentsindicated that some people interpreted the items from this factor as

meaning that their managers allow them autonomy and others inter-

preted the ite ms as meaning that their managers neglect them and thus

provide no support. Consequently, although the subscale would have

been theoretically interesting, it was not used in the analyses because

it did not uniformly assess the variable of interest. The Trust in the

Corporation factor, on the othe r hand, was quite reliable and was there-

fore used.

In addition, 12 subordinate-perception tems described the following

four aspects of supervision: amount of feedback, quality of feedback,

allowing aut onomy where possible, and protec ting subordinates from

pressures emanating from higher levels in the organization. Thre e it ems

had bee n intended to relate to ea ch of these four aspects. As it turne d

out, all 12 items consistently loaded on one factor, Quality o f Supervi-

sion, so we used this single 12-item factor. All but 2 of the 12 facto rloadings exceeded .58, and those 2 exceeded .44. The Cronbach a lpha

for this subscale was .91.

The second part of the survey included 11 items, each of whic h was

simply a word or phrase that descr ibed either the work environm ent or

the subordi nates' feelings in the work context. Examples are: support -

ive, constrained, relaxed, and under the gun. Subjects rated, on a 4-

point scale, how applicable the descri ptor was to the ir own situation.

Principa l-components factor analyses (with varimax rot ation) o f these

11 items revealed the following two factors: a five-item factor wi th de-

scriptors of the environment and a six-item factor with descriptors of

workers' feelings in their work enviro nment (all factor loadings were

above .55). Cronbac h alphas for the E nviron ment and Feelings factors

were .81 and .88, respectively. The first two example items given pre-

viously are from the E nviron ment factor, and th e last two are from the

Feelings factor. Although the subscales on the first two parts of the sur-

vey were forme d from factor analyses, the subscale scores were formed

by summi ng individual items.

The thir d part of the Work Climate Survey listed the following 10job

characteristics: personal autonomy, variety, quality of feedback from

supervisor, opportu nity to make inputs, job security, pay and benefits,

work atmosphere, trust in supervisor, trust i n corporation, and potentia l

for advancement; subjects were asked to rate, on a 7-poi nt scale, how

satisfied they were with the amo unt of each characteristic they experi-

enced on their job. In addition, they were asked to rate their general

satisfaction with their job, also on a 7-point scale. I n most o f the analy-

ses, each o f these 11 items was treated as a separate variable so that we

could relate managerial orientations to specific loci of satisfaction.

Items fro m the Work Climate Survey were worded in bot h positive and

negative directions; however, all data were coded in such a way that

higher scores were considered more positive.

The Employee A tti tude Survey is an in stru ment developed by the cor-

poration within which this study was conducted. It is used with all

15,000 members of the service organization, each of whom typically

completes it every 12 to 14 months. There are two fo rms of the survey,

a long form and a shor t form. The long form has 80 items, 55 of which

are used to comput e a global satisfaction index; the short form has 20items, all of which are from the 55 item s that make up the global satis-

faction index. These 20 items were selected because they were statisti-

cally representative of the pool of 55 items, and all 20 items are used to

compute the (short-form) global satisfaction index. The two forms of

the survey are alternated so that each one is completed every second

time. In th is research, the short form was used for the first adminis tra-

tion in the four branc hes considered (Locations l, 2, 4, and 5) and the

long form was used for the second. Respondent s used a 5-point scale to

rate eac h item on this scale, and the global satisfaction index was com-

puted by averaging t he relevant items once the necessary reversals had

been done; thus, higher scores were always more positive. The alpha

coefficient for both t he long form and the short form was .92. Da ta on

respondents from the four locations that were relevant to our analyses

were provided by the corporation.

The ntervention

The inte rvention consisted of an externa l change agent's spending 13

days working with the employees of a particular branch. The bulk of

the time was spent with the managers (a branc h manager and approxi-

mately 8 field managers who repo rt to the branch mana ger and each of

whom supervises about 18 technicians), although the techni cians also

had conta ct with the change agent on three occasions.

The change agent spent the 13 days as follows: 1 day with the bran ch

manager, 5 days with the ma nagement team, and 7 days with the various

field managers, including some time that each of them spent meeting

with his or her team of technicians.

The int ervention began with the consulta nt's spending a day with the

branc h manager, building trust, explaining the intervention, and listen-

ing to the manager give his or her perceptions of the dynamics in thebranch. The asse ssment was then conducte d with the field managers by

using the Probl ems at Work questionna ire; this was followed immedi -

ately by an orientation to the intervention. Next, the field technicians

convened to complete the Work Climate Survey and to receive their

orientation. With the prelim inary work done, the consultant conducted

a 2-day, off-site, team-building, management-developme nt session for

the management team. At three other times in the ensuing weeks, the

manageme nt team reassembled with the consultant for follow-up devel-

opment sessions. During this period, the consultant spent time with

each field manager individually, during which he observed the manager

leading a team meeting, and provided the manager with feedback on

manageme nt style and group dynamics. Following the intervention it-

self, the post reatm ent assessment was completed.



S E L F - D E T E R M I N A T I O N A T W O R K 5 8 5

The con ten t o f the t ra in ing sess ions inc luded d iscuss ions and ac t iv it -

ie s tha t were o rgan ized a round the th ree bas ic themes tha t p r io r re -

sea rch ( rev iewed in the in t roduc t ion o f th is a r t ic le ) has shown to be

c r i t ica l fo r p romot ing se l f -de te rmina t ion . The f ir s t them e was tha t o f

max imiz ing the oppor tun i ty fo r subord ina tes to take in i t ia t ive, tha t i s ,

to m ake cho ices and so lve p rob lems re levan t to them. Th is was opera -

t iona l ized in pa r t by dem ons t ra t ions and d iscuss ions abou t g roup pa r -

t ic ipa t ion and ind iv idua l in i t ia t ive . The second them e was tha t o f in fo r -

mat iona l feedback . Accord ing to in te rv iews and anecdo tes , the majo r i tyo f feedback in o rgan iza t ions i s c r it ica l ly nega t ive and thus demot iva t ing .

Even the posit ive feedback is all too frequently controll ing; i t empha-

s izes how peop le shou ld behave and impl ies tha t th e m anager i s in con-

t ro l . In fo rmat iona l feedback in an o rgan iza t ion re la tes to p rov id ing pe r -

fo rmance feedback tha t fac i l i ta te s competence whi le suppor t ing the

subord ina tes ' au tonom y. I t invo lves p rov id ing pos i t ive feedback wi th a

mi n im um of con t ro l l ing language and t rea t ing poor pe r fo rmance as a

p rob lem to be so lved ra the r than as a focus fo r c r i t ic i sm.

The th i rd theme o f the t ra in ing was recogn iz ing and accep t ing the

subor dinates ' perspective, that is , their need s and feelings. Working in

o rgan iza t ions invo lves a g rea t dea l o f accomm odat ing to l imi ts , and l im-

i t s f requen t ly requ i re tha t peop le do th ings they do no t w an t to do . I t i s

p robab le tha t these con t inua l exper iences p rom pt em ot ions tha t cou ld

interfere with effective function ing and cause interperso nal tension. By

recogn izing and reflecting such desires an d feelings, the ma nager can

ease the tension and inc rease the l ikeliho od of effective perform ance.

Thus , the workshop inc luded t ra in ing re la ted to acknowledg ing the

needs and feelings of subordinates. I t a lso focused on feelings among

the managers. Pe rhaps the mos t com mo n m ode o f dea l ing wi th in te rpe r -

sonal difficulties (e .g . , not l iking som ething tha t a co lleague did) is to

avoid the topic or the person. In the workshops, considerab le t ime was

spent having managers identify and express the feelings they had for

each o ther . The in ten t was fo r them to lea rn to m anage fee lings m ore

effectively in their everyday work enviro nm ent.

In the m anagement-deve lopmen t workshops, these th ree themes p re -

domina ted . Managers were encouraged to exam ine the i r own behav io r

with respect to these topics and to consider possible changes in their

behavior. Thr oug h discussions, manage rs realized, for exam ple, that

they somet imes t rea t the i r subord ina tes in ways tha t leave them ( themanagers) in fu r ia ted when the i r superv iso rs do such th ings to them .

Th is type o f lea rn ing th rough exam ina t ion o f one ' s own behav io rs and

emot iona l reac t ions charac te r ized the in te rven t ion .

The o the r componen t o f the in te rven t ion was fo r the managers to

exper imen t wi th these p rac t ices wi th in the i r own teams . Af te r the 2 -day

deve lopment workshop , each f ie ld m anager had a mee t ing w i th h is o r

he r team of f ie ld techn ic ians . The idea was fo r the managers to exper i -

men t wi th fac i l i ta ting g rea te r subord ina te invo lvem ent . The change

agen t obse rved the mee t ings and la te r p rov ided each manager w i th feed-

back abou t h is o r he r behav io r and abou t the g roup ' s reac t ions.

Subsequen t mee t ings wi th the management g roup were d i rec ted a t

s t reng then ing the changes tha t were occur r ing and p lann ing fu tu re ac -

t iv i tie s tha t c ou ld con t inue the deve lopment toward g rea te r pa r t ic ipa -

t ion , invo lvement , and in i t ia t ive on the pa r t o f each mem ber o f tha t

branch.

R e s u l t s

D a t a f r o m t h i s r e s e a r c h w e r e a n a l y z e d i n t w o p h a s e s . T h e

f i rs t w a s a s et o f c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y s e s a i m e d a t e x p l o r i n g

w h e t h e r s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n , a n d m a n a g e r s ' s u p p o r t f o r s e lf - de -

t e r m i n a t i o n , a r e i m p o r t a n t c o n c e p t s i n t h e w o r k pl a c e . T h e s e c -

o n d p h a s e i n v o l v e d a n a ly s e s o f c h a n g e a n d w a s i n t e n d e d t o e v a l-

u a t e t h e i m p a c t o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n .

P h a s e 1 : C o r r e l a ti o n s

T h i s f i r s t p h a s e o f t h e a n a l y s is f o c u s e d o n t h e s e t w o q u e s t i o n s :

( a ) w h e t h e r m a n a g e r s ' s u p p o r t f o r s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n ( a s a s -

T a b l e 1

Corre lat ions Betw een Ma nage rs O r ientat ions Toward

Suppor t ing Se l f -D e te r m ina tion and the Wor k C l im a te

Var iables o f Subordinates for Lo cat ions 1 , 2 , and 3

a t Thr e e Po in ts i n T im e

T i m e 1 T i m e 2 T i m e 3Variable (n = 20) (n = 23) (n = 15)

Trust in corpo ration .12 .55** .72**Q u a l i t y o f s u p e rv i s io n - . 0 4 - . 0 3 . 47Env iro nme nt i s suppor t ive - .0 9 .16 .43Feel nonpr essured .00 .03 .61Sa t i s fact ion w i th

persona l au tono my - . 14 .06 .23var ie ty - .2 7 .20 .42qua l i ty feedback - .0 6 - .0 7 .57*oppor tun i ty fo r inpu ts - . 17 .11 .71 *secur i ty - .0 3 .31 .60*pay & benefits - . 37 .31 .53work atm osph ere .03 .22 .47trust in superv isor .21 .15 .30trust in corpo ration .13 .45* .55*poten tial for adva ncem ent .17 .07 .53*

Gen eral satisfaction .03 .17 .69**

* p < . 0 5 . * * p < . 0 1 .

s e s s e d b y t h e P r o b l e m s a t W o r k q u e s t i o n n a i r e ) w a s p o s i t i v e l y

c o r r e l a t e d w i t h s u b o r d i n a t e s ' p e r c e p t i o n s , a f f e c t s , a n d s a t i s f a c -

t i o n s (a s a ss e s s e d b y t h e W o r k C l i m a t e S u r v e y ) ; a n d ( b ) w h i c h o f

t h e s u b o r d i n a t e v a r i a b le s c o r r e l a t e d w i t h s u b o r d i n a t e s ' g e n e r a l

s a t i s f ac t i o n . M a n a g e r s a n d s u b o r d i n a t e s f r o m L o c a t i o n s 1 , 2 ,

a n d 3 c o m p l e t e d t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s a t t h r e e p o i n t s i n t i m e ; t h e

p r i m a r y a n a l y se s w e r e c o r r e l a t io n s a t e a c h o f t h e s e t h r e e t i m e s .

D a t a f r o m a l l m e m b e r s o f a t e a m ( o n w h o m w e h a d d a t a )

w e r e a v e r a g ed b e f o r e b e i n g c o r r e l a t e d w i t h t h e i r m a n a g e r s ' i n -

t e r p e r s o n a l o r i e n t a t i o n ( i . e. , s u p p o r t f o r s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n )s c o re . T h u s , a l t h o u g h t h e r e w e r e m o r e t h a n 2 0 0 t e c h n i c i a n r e -

s p o n d e n t s a t e a c h p o i n t i n t i m e , t h e s a m p l e s i z e s ( g i v e n t h e

w o r k t e a m a s t h e u n i t o f a n a l y s is ) w e r e 2 0 , 2 3, a n d 1 5 t e a m s ,

r e s p e c ti v e l y , f o r t h e t h r e e p o i n t s i n t i m e .

T h e c o r r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s a n d t h e s u b -

o r d i n a t e v a r i a b l e s a p p e a r i n T a b l e 1 . A s o n e c a n s e e, a t T i m e 1

( J a n u a r y o f Y e a r 2 ) th e m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s d i d n o t c o r r e l a t e

s i g n if i c an t l y w i t h a n y s u b o r d i n a t e v a r ia b l e s. A t T i m e 2 ( M a y o f

Y e a r 2 ) , m a n a g e m e n t s t y l e c o r r e l a t e d s i g n i f i c a n tl y w i t h t r u s t i n

t h e c o r p o r a t i o n ( r = . 5 5 ) a n d w i t h s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h t r u s t i n t h e

c o r p o r a t i o n ( r = . 4 5 ). F i n a l l y , a t T i m e 3 ( F e b r u a r y o f Y e a r 3 ) ,

m a n a g e m e n t s t y le a g a i n c o r r e l a t e d s i g n i f i c a n t ly w i t h t r u s t ( r =

. 7 2 ) as w e l l a s w i t h f e e l i n g n o n p r e s s u r e d ( r = . 6 1 ) a n d t h e f o l -l o w i n g s i x s a t i s f a c t i o n v a r i a b l e s : q u a l i t y o f f e e d b a c k ( r = . 5 7) ,

o p p o r t u n i t y f o r i n p u t s ( r = . 7 1 ) , s e c u r i t y (r = . 6 0 ) , t r u s t i n c o r -

p o r a t i o n ( r = . 5 5 ) , p o t e n t i a l f o r a d v a n c e m e n t ( r = . 5 3) , a n d

g e n e r a l s a t i s f a c t i o n ( r = . 6 9 ) .

T h e c o r r e l a t io n s b e t w e e n g e n e r a l s a t i sf a c t io n a n d t h e o t h e r

W o r k C l i m a t e S u r v e y v a r i a b l e s f or t h e t h r e e p o i n t s i n t i m e a r e

r e p o r t e d i n T a b l e 2 . A t T i m e 1 , g e n e r a l s a t i s f a c t io n r e l a t e d t o

l e v e l o f t r u s t i n t h e c o r p o r a t i o n a n d t o s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h p e r s o n a l

a u t o n o m y , s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h s e c u r i t y , s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h p a y a n d

b e n e f i t s , s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h w o r k a t m o s p h e r e , a n d s a t i s f a c t i o n

w i t h t r u s t i n t h e c o r p o r a t i o n .

T h u s , s u b o r d i n a t e s ' g e n e r a l s a t i s fa c t i o n w i t h t h e i r w o r k l i v e s



58 6 E. DECI, J . CONNELL, AN D R. RYAN

T a b l e 2

Corre lat ions Between General Sat is fac t ion a nd the Oth er

Variab le s Fr om the Wor k C l im a te Su r v e y o r Loc a t ions

1 2 and 3 a t Thr e e Po in t s i n T im e

Time 1 Time 2 Time 3Variable (n = 20) (n = 23) (n = 1 5

Trust in corporation .68** .34 .89**Qu ality of supervision .38 .67** .76**En viro nm ent is supportive .40 .79** .69**Feel nonpressured .42 .77** .83**Satisfaction with

personal auton om y .61 * .45* .04varie ty .28 .40 .33qua lity feedback .16 .58 * .82 *oppo rtunity for inpu ts .30 .58** .64**secur ity .69** .48** .84**pay & benefits .62** .03 .84**work atmosphere .58** .84** .86**tru st in supervisor .35 .72** .54*tru st in corporation .72** .64** .79**potential for advancement .12 .24 .38

p<.05 . p< .01 .

a t T i m e 1 s e e m s t o h a v e b ee n p r i m a r i l y a f u n c ti o n o f t w o k i n d s

o f v a r i a b l e s , a s f o ll o w s : ( a ) e x t r i n s i c v a r i a b l e s , s u c h a s p a y a n d

s e c u r it y , t h a t h a d b e e n t h r e a t e n e d b y t h e w a g e fr e e z e a n d r e d u c -

t i o n i n w o r k f o r c e a n d ( b ) e l e m e n t s r e l a t e d t o t h e i r g e n e r a l s e n s e

o f th e c o r p o r a t i o n a n d i t s t o p m a n a g e m e n t . T h e s e f i n d i n g s a r e

c o n s i s t e n t w i t h a n e c d o t a l e v i d e n c e p i c k e d u p b y t h e e x t e r n a l

c h a n g e a g e n t , n a m e l y , t h a t w o r k e r s e x p r e s s e d t h e i r d i s s a t i s f a c -

t i o n in t e r m s o f t h e co m p a n y . F o r e x a m p l e , T h i s i s t h e k i n d o f

c o m p a n y t h a t d o e s n ' t g iv e a d a m n a b o u t i t s p e o p l e w a s t h e

t y p e o f c o m m e n t t h a t w a s f r e q ue n t l y h e a r d a t t h a t t i m e .

A t T i m e 2 , th e p i c t u r e b e g a n t o s h i f t s o m e w h a t . T h e e x t r i n s i c

a n d g e n e r a l c o n t e x t u a l v a r i a b l e s c o n t i n u e d t o b e i m p o r t a n t ( a l -

t h o u g h p a y a n d b e n e f i t s w a s l es s i m p o r t a n t b e c a u s e a n e n d t o

t h e p a y f r e e z e h a d b e e n a n n o u n c e d ) , b u t t h e b i g g e s t d i f f e r en c e

w a s t h a t v a r i a b l e s r e l a t e d t o t h e i m m e d i a t e s u p e r v i s o r ( e .g . ,

q u a l i t y o f s u p e r v i s i o n a n d s a t i s f a c t i o n s w i t h q u a l i t y o f f e e d -

b a c k , o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o m a k e i n p u t s , a n d t r u s t i n t h e s u p e r v i s o r )

w e r e c l e a r l y r e l a t e d t o g e n e r a l s a t is f a c t io n . R e c a l l t h a t t h e y h a d

n o t b e e n r e l a t e d a t T i m e 1 . T h i s i s o f p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t b e -

c a u s e , a s c o u l d b e s e e n e a r l ie r , m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s ( a s a s -

s e s se d b y t h e P r o b l e m s a t W o r k q u e s t i o n n a i r e ) w e r e a l s o r e l a t e d

t o s o m e s u b o r d i n a t e v a r i a b l e s a t T i m e 2 , w h e r e a s t h e y h a d n o t

b e e n a t T i m e 1 .

A t T i m e 3 , g e n e r a l s a t i s fa c t i o n w a s e v e n m o r e s t r o n g l y r e -

l a t e d to s u p e r v i s o r y v a r i a b l e s a n d t o g e n e r a l a t m o s p h e r e v a r i -a b l e s a n d e x t r i n s i c v a r i a b le s . B y t h i s ti m e , w h e n e x t r i n s i c e l e -

m e n t s h a d i m p r o v e d i n t h e o r g a n i z at i o n a n d w h e n a l l t h r e e o f

t h e b r a n c h e s h a d r e c e i v e d t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n t r a i n i n g , p e r c e p -

t i o n s o f t h e i r j o b s a n d s a t i s f a c ti o n w i t h j o b c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a l l

r e l a t e d s t r o n g l y t o g e n e r a l s a t i s f a c ti o n a n d , a s w e s h o w e d e a r li e r,

t o t h e a c t u a l o r i e n t a t i o n s o f t h e i r s u p e r v i s o r s . In g e n e r a l , t h e r e -

f o r e, t h e c o m p l e x o f p e r c e p t u a l a n d a t t i t u d i n a l v a r i a b l e s a s w e ll

a s t h e a c t u a l c li m a t e p r o v i d e d b y t h e m a n a g e r a l l s e e m e d t o

c o h e r e . W o r k e r s w h o s e m a n a g e r s s u p p o r t e d s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n

t e n d e d t o f e e l g o o d a n d t o b e p o s i t i v e a b o u t m o s t t h i n g s ,

w h e r e a s t h o s e w h o s e m a n a g e r s w e r e c o n t r o l l i n g t e n d e d t o f e e l

b a d a n d t o b e n e g a t i v e a b o u t m o s t t h i n g s.

T h e c o r r e l a t i o n s o f a t t i t u d i n a l v a r i a b l e s w i t h g e n e r a l s a t is f a c -

t i o n a t t h e t h r e e p o i n t s i n t i m e p r o v i d e s o m e i n s i g h t i n t o w h y

c o r r e l a ti o n s b e tw e e n m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s a n d s u b o r d i n a t e s '

a t t i t u d e s w e r e q u i t e s t r o n g a t T i m e 3 , w h e r e a s t h e y d i d n o t e x i s t

a t T i m e 1 . A s m e n t i o n e d e a r l ie r , t h e g e n e r a l a m b i e n c e i n t h e

c o m p a n y w a s q u i t e b a d a t T i m e 1 , w i t h t h e p a y f r ee z e a n d r e -

d u c t i o n i n w o r k f o r c e b e i n g t h e p a l p a b l e e v i d e n c e o f t h a t t o t h e

w o r k e r s. S o u n s e t t l i n g w a s t h i s g e n e r a l s i t u a t i o n t h a t i m m e d i a t es u p e r v i s o r y i s s u e s w e r e a p p a r e n t l y n o t v e r y s a l i e n t t o t h e t e c h -

n i c i a n s . H o w e v er , a s t h e g e n e r a l s i t u a t i o n i m p r o v e d s o m e w h a t

( th e f r ee z e w a s o ve r a n d t h e c o m p a n y h a d m a d e a c o m m i t m e n t

t o i m p r o v i n g t h e g e n e r a l o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c l im a t e ) i s s u e s r e l a t e d

t o i m m e d i a t e s u p e r v i s o rs b e c a m e m o r e s a l ie n t as c o r r e la t e s o f

wor k e r s ' g e ne r a l s a t i s f a c t i on .

N o t s u r p r i s i n g ly , t h e r e w e r e i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s a m o n g v a r i o u s

s u b o r d i n a t e v a r i a b l e s o n t h e W o r k C l i m a t e S u r v e y . ~ T h u s , a

h i g h e r o r d e r f a c t o r a n a ly s i s ( p r i n c i p a l - c o m p o n e n t s w i t h v a r i -

m a x r o t a t i o n ) w a s c o n d u c t e d o n t h e 1 5 v a r i a b l e s f r o m t h e W o r k

C l i m a t e S u r v e y . T h e f o l lo w i n g t h r e e i n d e p e n d e n t f a c t o r s

e m e r g e d : a n E x t r i n s i c f a c t o r, a S u p e r v i s o r y f a c to r , a n d a J o b

D e s i g n f a c t o r. T h i r t e e n o f t h e 1 5 v a r i a b l e s h a d v i r t u a l l y i d e n t i -c a l l o a d i n g s a t e a c h p o i n t i n t i m e . H o w e v e r , c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e

e a r l i e r d i s c u s s i o n , g e n e r a l s a t i s f a c t i o n a n d s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h

w o r k a t m o s p h e r e , b o t h o f w h i c h l o a d e d o n t h e E x t r i n s ic f a c t or

a t T i m e 1 , h a d s h i f t e d t o t h e S u p e r v i s o r y f a c t o r a t T i m e 3 . O f

f u r t h e r i n t e r e s t is t h a t b o t h t h e t r u s t i n c o r p o r a t i o n a n d s a t i sf a c -

t i o n w i t h t r u s t i n c o r p o r a t i o n v a r i a b l e s l o a d e d o n t h e E x t r i n s i c

f a c t o r t h r o u g h o u t . H i g h e r o r d e r f a c t o r c o m p o s i t e s w e r e c o m -

p u t e d f o r t h e t h r e e p o i n t s i n t i m e , u s i n g th e 1 3 v a r ia b l e s w i t h

s t a b l e l o a d i n g s , a s f o l lo w s : (a ) E x t r i n s i c ( t r u s t i n c o r p o r a t i o n ,

s a t i s f a c ti o n w i t h s e c u r i ty , s a t i s f a c ti o n w i t h p a y a n d b e n e f i ts , a n d

s a t i s f a c ti o n w i t h t r u s t i n t h e c o r p o r a t i o n ) ; ( b ) S u p e r v i s o r y

( q u a l it y o f i m m e d i a t e s u p e r v is i o n , e n v i r o n m e n t i s s u p p o rt i v e,

f e e l n o n p r e s s u r e d , s a t i s f a c ti o n w i t h q u a l i t y o f f e e d b a c k f r o m

s u p e r v i s o r, s a ti s f a c t io n w i t h o p p o r t u n i t y t o m a k e i n p u t s , a n d

s a t i s f a c ti o n w i t h t r u s t i n s u p e r v i s o r ) ; a n d ( c ) J o b D e s i g n ( s a t i s -

f a c t i o n w i t h p e r s o n a l a u t o n o m y , s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h v a r i e ty , a n d

s a t i s f a c ti o n w i t h p o t e n t i a l f o r a d v a n c e m e n t ) . T e a m a v e r a ge s o f

t h e s e t h r e e h i g h e r o r d e r f a c t o r c o m p o s i t e s w e r e t h e n c o r r e l a t e d

w i t h t h e m a n a g e r s ' s u p p o r t f o r s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n s c o r e s. T h e

r e s u l t s a p p e a r i n T a b l e 3 . A t T i m e 2 , m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s

w e r e s i g n i f i c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h t h e E x t r i n s i c f a c to r , a l th o u g h

p r e s u m a b l y t h i s w a s p r i m a r i l y a f u n c t io n o f t h e t r u s t i n c o r p o -

r a t i o n v a r i a b l e s ; a t T i m e 3 , m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s w e r e s i g -

n i f i c a n t ly c o r r e l a t e d w i t h a l l t h r e e h i g h e r o r d e r f a c t o r s . T h u s ,

t h e r e s u l t s u s i n g h i g h e r o r d e r f a c t o r c o m p o s i t e s c l o s e l y p a r a l l e l

t h e r e s u l t s u s i n g t h e l o w e r o r d e r v a r i a b l e s .

T o s u m m a r i z e , t h e r e l a t i o n b e tw e e n m a n a g e r s ' s u p p o r t f o rs e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n a n d w o r k e r s ' j o b - r e l a t e d a t t i t u d e s w a s s ig -

n i f ic a n t a n d i m p o r t a n t w h e n m o r e g e n e r a l c o r p o r a te v a r i a b le s

r e l a t e d t o j o b s e c u r i t y a n d p a y w e r e n o t o v e r l y s a l i e n t. W h e n

s e c u r i t y a n d p a y w e r e t h r e a t e n e d , t h e s e v a r i a b l e s (a l o n g w i t h

t r u s t i n t h e t o p m a n a g e m e n t , w h o w e r e p r e s u m a b l y r e s p o n s i b l e

f o r t h e t h r e a t ) w e r e m o s t p r e d i c t i v e o f o b - r e l a t e d a t t i tu d e s .

P h a s e 2 : C h a n g e

T h e s e c o n d p h a s e o f t h e a n a l y s e s i n v o l v e d a s s e s s in g t h e i m -

p a c t o f t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l i n t e r v e n t i o n i n L o c a t i o n s 1 , 2 , a n d

A table o f these corre la t ions can be ob ta ined f rom Edward L. Deci .



SELF-DETERMI NATI ON AT WO RK 58 7

T a b l e 3

Correlations Betw een Managers Orientations Tow ard

Sup porting Self-Determination an d the Hig her Order

Factors From the Subordinates ' W ork Cl imate Survey s for

Locat ions 1 , 2 , and 3 at Three Points in T ime

Ti me 1 T i me 2 T i me 3

Fac tor (n = 20) (n = 23) (n = 15)

Overall Extrinsic - .0 3 .55** .63**Overall Supervisory - .0 3 .08 .62**Overall Job Design - .0 8 .14 .54

* p < . 0 5 . * * p < . 0 1 .

3 . T h e s c h e d u l e f o r t h e p r o j e c t , i n w h i c h w e u s e d a d e l a y e d -

t r e a t m e n t d e s i g n , w a s a s f o l lo w s : T i m e 1 a s s e s s m e n t , l a t e J a n u -

a r y o f Y e a r 2 ; L o c a t i o n 1 i n t e rv e n t i o n , F e b r u a r y t h r o u g h A p r i l

o f Y e a r 2 ; T i m e 2 a s s e s s m e n t , e a r l y M a y o f Y e a r 2 ; L o c a t i o n 2

i n t e rv e n t i o n , M a y t h r o u g h J u n e o f Y e a r 2 ; L o c a t io n 3 i n t e rv e n -

t i o n, S e p t e m b e r t h r o u g h N o v e m b e r o f Y e a r 2 ; a n d T i m e 3 a s-s e s s m e n t , F e b r u a r y o f Y e a r 3 . T h u s , t o a s s e s s s h o r t - t e r m

c h a n g e , L o c a t i o n 1 w a s t r e a t e d a s th e i n t e r v e n t i o n g r o u p , a n d

L o c a t i o n s 2 a n d 3 a s t h e c o m p a r i s o n g r o u p . T h e n , b e c a u s e L o -

c a t i o n s 2 a n d 3 h a d b e c o m e p a r t o f t h e i n t e r v e n ti o n g r o u p b y

T i m e 3 , a ll t h r e e b r a n c h e s w e r e p a r t o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n g r o u p

f o r t h e a s s e s s m e n t o f l o n g er t e r m c h a n g e .

T h e f ir st in t e n d e d o u t c o m e o f t h e p r o j e c t , w h i c h w a s t o

c h a n g e m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s t o w a r d g r e a t e r s u p p o r t f o r s e lf -

d e t e r m i n a t i o n , w a s e x p e c t e d t o a p p e a r a s a s i g n i f ic a n t c h a n g e

f o r t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n g r o u p ( L o c a t i o n 1 ) r e l a t iv e t o t h e c o n t r o l

g r o u p ( L o c a t i o n s 2 a n d 3 ) o n s c o re s f ro m t h e P r o b l e m s a t W o r k

q u e s t i o n n a ir e . T h e s e c o n d a i m w a s t o h a v e t h a t c h a n g e i n m a n -

a g e m e n t o r i e n t a t i o n r a d i a t e t o t h e l e v e l o f th e s u b o r d i n a t e s . W ea n t i c i p a t e d th a t t h i s c h a n g e w o u l d n o t b e e v i d e n t b y T i m e 2 ,

b e c a u s e m a n a g e r s a n d s u b o r d i n a t e s i n t e r a c t s o i n f r e q u e n t l y ;

n o n e t h e l e s s , c h a n g e s i n t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n v e r s u s c o m p a r i s o n

g r o u p s o n s u b o r d i n a t e v a r i ab l e s f r o m t h e W o r k C l i m a t e S u r v e y

w e r e c o m p a r e d f o r T i m e I t o T i m e 2 . B y T i m e 3 w e a n t i c i p a t e d

t h a t r a d i a t i o n w o u l d h a v e o c c u r r e d , s o w e p r e d i c t e d c h a n g e s i n

t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l b ra n c h e s f r o m T i m e 1 t o T i m e 3 o n v a r i ab l e s

f r o m b o t h t h e W o r k C l i m a t e S u r v e y a n d t h e E m p l o y e e A t t i t u d e

Sur ve y .

T h e T i m e 1 a n d T i m e 2 s c o r e s o n t h e P r o b l e m s a t W o r k q u e s-

t i o n n a i r e f o r m a n a g e r s f r o m L o c a t i o n 1 v e r s u s L o c a t i o n s 2 a n d

3 w e r e s u b j e c t e d t o a 2 × 2 r e p e a t e d m e a s u r e s a n a l y s i s o f v a r i -

a n c e ( A N O V A ). I f th e d e s i r e d c h a n g e o c c u r r e d , i t w o u l d b e r e -

f l e c t ed in a n i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n t h e t i m e a n d l o c a t i o n v a r i -

a b l e s . T h e m e a n s f o r t h e f o u r c e l ls a p p e a r i n T a b l e 4 , a n d t h e

s i gn i f i c a n t i n t e r a c t i on , F ( 1 , 19 ) = 5 . 91 , p < . 03 , be t w e e n t i m e

a n d l o c a t i o n i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n d i d h a v e a p o s i t i v e

e f f ec t o n t h e m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t io n s . F u r t h e r m o r e , a s i m p l e

e f f ec t s t e s t ( W i n e r , 1 9 6 2 ) c o n f i r m e d t h a t t h e c h a n g e i n t h e i n t e r -

ve n t i o n g r ou p me a ns w a s i t s e l f s i gn i f i c a n t , t ( 19 ) = 2 . 57 , p < . 02 .

A l t h o u g h t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n w a s d e s i g n e d t o i n f l u e n c e t h e m a n -

a g e r s ' i n t e r p e r s o n a l o r i e n t a t i o n s i n s u p e r v i s i n g t h e i r s u b o r d i -

n a t e s , t h e g o a l o f s u c h a n i n t e r v e n t i o n , o f c o u r s e , i s t h a t t h i s

c h a n g e r a d i a t e s t o t h e l e v e l o f t h e s u b o r d i n a t e s . C h a n g i n g m a n -

a g e m e n t o r i e n t a t i o n i s u s e f u l w h e n t h e s u b o r d i n a t e s p e r c e i v e

t h e i r m a n a g e r d i f f e r e n tl y a n d r e s p o n d t o t h a t p e r c e i v e d c h a n g e .

T o t e s t t h i s , v a r i a b l e s f r o m t h e W o r k C l i m a t e S u r v e y t h a t a s -

s e s s e d s u b o r d i n a t e s ' p e r c e p t i o n s , f e e l i ng s , a n d s a t i s f a c ti o n s a t

T i m e s 1 a n d 2 w e r e a l s o s u b j e c t e d t o 2 × 2 r e p e a t e d m e a s u r e s

A N OV A S. O n l y 1 o u t o f 1 6 v a r i a b l e s , s a ti s f a c t i o n w i t h p o t e n t i a l

f o r a d v a n c e m e n t , y i e l d e d t h e d e s i r e d i n t e r a c t io n . T h u s , b y M a y

o f Y e a r 2 , j u s t a s th e i n t e r v e n t i o n w a s c o m i n g t o a c l o s e i n L o c a -

t i o n 1 , t h e r e w a s n o e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n w i t h m a n a g -

e r s h a d a f f e c t ed t h e e x p e r i e n c e s o f t h e i r e m p l o y e e s .

A s m e n t i o n e d , w e h a d n o t r e a l l y e x p e c t e d a c h a n g e w i t h in

t h i s s h o r t t i m e f r a m e , b e c a u s e s u b o r d i n a t e s h a d r e l a ti v e l y l i t t le

c o n t a c t w i t h t h e i r m a n a g e r s . A l o n g e r t i m e f r a m e w a s t h o u g h t

t o b e n e c e s s a ry t o d e t e c t t h e i m p a c t o f t h e i n t er v e n t i o n o n s u b -

o r d i n a t e v a r i a b l e s , b u t v a r i o u s o r g a n i z a t i o n c o n s i d e r a t i o n s ,

p l u s t h e d e l a y e d - t r e a tm e n t d e s ig n i n w h i c h t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n b e -

g a n w i t h m e m b e r s o f t h e c o n t ro l g r o u p i n M a y o f Y e a r 2, p r e -

v e n t e d d e l a y i n g t h e T i m e 2 a s s e s s m e n t u n t i l l a te r .

G i v e n t h e s e l i m i t a t i o n s , a t w o - f o l d s t r a t e g y f o r a s s e s s i n g

c h a n g e i n s u b o r d i n a t e v a r i a b l e s w a s u s e d . F i r s t , i n F e b r u a r y o f

Y e a r 3 , w h i c h w a s b e t w e e n 3 a n d 1 0 m o n t h s a f t e r t h e c o m p l e -

t i o n o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n s i n e a c h b r a n c h ( L o c a t i o n s 1 , 2 , a n d 3 ),

t h e T i m e 3 a s s e s s m e n t s w e r e d o n e . T h i s a l l o w e d u s t o d e t a i lc h a n g e s f r o m p r e - t o p o s t t r e a t m e n t , a l t h o u g h o f c o u r s e t h e s e

d a t a a r e a t b e s t s u g g e s ti v e b e c a u s e t h e r e w a s n o l o n g e r a c o m -

p a r i s o n g r o u p . S e c o n d , th e E m p l o y e e A t t i t u d e S u r v e y h a d b e e n

t a k e n i n L o c a t i o n s 1 a n d 2 s h o r t l y b e f o r e e a c h o f t h e i r in t e r v e n -

t i o n s b e g a n , a n d t h e n a g a i n a y e a r l a t e r ( se e F i g u r e 2 ) . T h e r e

w e r e t w o o t h e r b r a n c h e s i n t h e c o u n t r y o n t h e s a m e s c h e d u l e s

a s e a c h o f t h e s e t w o b r a n c h e s , s o t h e s e o t h e r t w o b r a n c h e s ( L o -

c a t i o n s 4 a n d 5 ) s e r v e d a s a c o n t r o l g r o u p f o r t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l

g r o u p c o m p r i s i n g L o c a t i o n s 1 a n d 2 . ( T h e s u r v e y f o r L o c a t io n

3 c a m e i n t h e m i d d l e o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n , s o t h i s s it e c o u l d n o t

b e i n c l u d e d i n t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l g r o u p f o r t h i s a n a ly s i s . ) A s

m e n t i o n e d e a r l i e r , n e i t h e r L o c a t i o n 4 n o r L o c a t i o n 5 h a d y e t

h a d a n y i n t e r v e n t i o n r e l a t e d to t h e c o m p a n y ' s e f f o rt to c h a n g et h e c l i m a t e o f t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n .

D a t a f r o m t h e 1 5 v a r i a b l e s o n t h e W o r k C l i m a t e S u r v e y ,

w h i c h a r e r e l e v a n t to e v a l u a ti n g th e i m p a c t o f t h e i n t e r v e n t io n

o n t h e f i e l d t e c h n i c i a n s , a p p e a r i n T a b l e 5 . T h e m e a n s w e r e

f o r m e d f r o m a l l t e c h n i c i a n s f r o m L o c a t i o n s 1 , 2 , a n d 3 o n

w h o m w e h a d b o t h p r e - a n d p o s t t r e a t m e n t d a t a . T h e d a t a w e r e

s u b j e c t e d t o a o n e - w a y , r e p e a t e d m e a s u r e s m u l t i v a r i a t e a n a l y s is

o f v a r i a n c e ( M A NO V A ; H o t e l l i n g ' s T 2 ) a n d t h e n t o 1 5 o n e - w a y ,

r e p e a t e d m e a s u r e s A N OV A S. T h e M A N O V Ashowe a s i gn i f i c a n t

c h a n g e f r o m p r e - t o p o s t t r e a t m e n t , F ( 1 5 , 8 8 ) = 3 . 3 9, p < . 0 1.

T h e s u b s e q u e n t A N O V A S r e v e a l e d t h a t t w o v a r i a b l e s c h a n g e d

s i g n i f ic a n t l y f r o m p r e - t o p o s t t r e a t m e n t . T h e y w e r e t r u s t i n t h e

T a b l e 4

Mea ns an d Standard Deviations for Ma nagem ent O rientat ion

Toward Support ing Self -Determination for Locat ion 1

(the Intervention Branch) Versus Loc ations 2 an d 3

(the Comparison Branches) at Tim e I (Pretraining)

and T im e 2 (Posttraining in Loca tion 1)

Time 1 Time 2

M SD M SD

Loca tion 1 (n = 8) 51.5 22.6 63.5 20.5Locations 2 and 3 (n = 13) 56.5 14.9 54.0 18.0



58 8 E. DECI, J . CONNELL, AN D R. RYAN

T a b l e

Me a ns and S tandar d D e v ia t ions fo r Wor k C l im a te Variab le s

From Pre- to Pos t treatmen t o r Locat ions 1 , 2 , and 3 n = 103)

Pret rea tment Pos t t rea tment

Variable M S D M S D

Trust in corporation 3.20* 1.24 3.52* 1.35Qu ality of supervision 4.79 1.15 4.69 1.31Env ironm ent is supportive 3.22 0.70 3.16 0.79Feel nonpressured 2.10 0.65 2.13 0.68Satisfaction with

personal aut ono m y 4.94 1,41 5.08 1.43vari ety 4.92 1.40 4.70 1.43quality feedback 4.66 1.77 4.43 1.99opp ortunity for inpu ts 4.22 1.60 4.32 1.54secu rity 5.02 1.58 4.78 1.79pay benefits 4.24 1.87 3.97 1.85work atmosphe re 4.44 1.74 4.37 1.64tru st in supervisor 4.85 1.86 4.84 1.89tru st in corp orati on 3.84 1.61 4.11 1.64potent ia l for advancement 3 .22 ** 1 .7 1 3 .78 ** 1 .77

Ge nera l satisfaction 4.8 3 1.61 4.81 1.69

Note. Asterisks indicate that pretreatm ent means differ from posttreat-men t means, in one-way, repeated-measures ANOVA s.*p < .05 . **p < .01.

c o r p o r a t i o n , F ( 1 , 102 ) = 5 . 07 , p < . 05 , a nd s a t i s f a c t i on w i t h

po t e n t i a l f o r a dv a nc e m e n t , F ( I , 102 ) = 12 . 8, p < , 01 . Fu r t he r -

m o r e , s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h t r u s t i n t h e c o r p o r a t i o n s h o w e d a m a r -

g i na l l y s i gn i f i c a n t i nc r e a s e , F ( 1 , 102) = 2 . 91 , p < . 10 .

R e c a l l f r o m t h e e a r l i e r a n a ly s e s t h a t t r u s t i n t h e c o r p o r a t i o n

w a s t h e v a r i a b l e t h a t m o s t c o n s i s t e n t l y a n d m o s t s t r o n g l y r e -

l a t e d t o m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s , s o i t is t o b e e x p e c t e d t h a t t h i s

v a r i a b l e w o u l d i n c r e a s e i n r e s p o n s e t o t h e c h a n g e s i n m a n a g e r s '

o r i e n t a t i o n s t o w a r d g r e a t e r a u t o n o m y s u p p o r t . S i m i l a rl y , s a t is -

f a c t io n w i t h t r u s t i n t h e c o r p o r a t i o n w a s s i g n i f i c a n tl y c o r r e l a t e d

w i t h m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s a t T i m e s 2 a n d 3 , s o i t i s a l s o

r e a d i l y u n d e r s t a n d a b l e t h a t t h i s v a r i a b l e w o u l d b e a f f e c t e d b y

t h e c h a n g e s i n m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s . S a t i sf a c t i o n w i t h p o t e n -

t i a l f o r a d v a n c e m e n t w a s s i g n i f i ca n t l y r e l a t e d t o m a n a g e m e n t

o r i e n t a t i o n o n l y a t T i m e 3 , s o t h a t f i n d i n g i s s o m e w h a t l e s s e a s -

i l y i n t e r p r e t a b l e .

T a b l e 6 s h o w s t h e m e a n s f o r t h e g l o b a l sa t i s f a c ti o n i n d e x o n

t h e E m p l o y e e A t t i tu d e S u r v e y f o r p re - a n d p o s t t r e a tm e n t . T h e

s a m p l e s i z e s a n d c o m p o s i t i o n s d i f f e r e d a t t h e d i f f e re n t a s se s s -

m e n t t i m e s a n d t h e r e w a s n o w a y t o i d e n t i f y i n d i v i d u a l r e s p o n -

d e n t s o r t h e i r t e a m s , s o t h e d a t a w e r e t r e a t e d a s i n d e p e n d e n t

s a m p l e s , t h u s m a k i n g t h e t e s t m o r e c o n s e r v a t i v e . A s c a n b e

s e e n , t h e g l o b a l s a t i s f a c ti o n i n d e x f o r t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l b r a n c h e s

i m p r o v e d o v e r t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n y e a r , w h e r e a s t h e i n d e x f o r t h e

c o m p a r i s o n b r a n c h e s d e c l i n e d ; th e s i g n i f i c a n t i n t e r a c t i o n , F ( 1 ,

747 ) = 12 . 7, p < . 001 , i nd i c a t e s t ha t t he i n t e r v e n t i o n ha d a

pos i t i ve e ff e c t. The da t a a r e l e s s t ha n i de a l , howe ver , be c a us e t he

p r e t r e a t m e n t m e a n o f th e c o m p a r i s o n g r o u p d i f fe r e d f r o m t h a t

o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n g r o u p ; t h e r e f o r e s o m e o f th e c h a n g e c o u l d

b e e x p l a i n e d b y r e g r e s si o n to w a r d t h e m e a n . N o n e t h e l e s s , t h e

m a g n i t u d e o f t h e e ff e c t s u g g e st s t h a t t h e c h a n g e i s m o r e t h a n

r e g r e s s io n to w a r d t h e m e a n , s o i t d o e s p r o v i d e s o m e s u p p o r t f o r

t h e u t i l i t y o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n .

D i s c u s s i o n

I n t h i s a r t i c l e w e h a v e p r e s e n t e d a n e x p l o r a t i o n o f s e lf - d e te r -

m i n a t i o n i n a w o r k o r g a n i z a t i o n . P r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h o n s e l f -d e -

t e r m i n a t i o n , m u c h o f it d o n e i n t h e p s y c h o l o g y l a b o r a t o r y , h a s

i s o l a t e d t h e f o l l o w i n g t h r e e g e n e r a l f a c t o r s t h a t a r e i n t e g r a l t o

p r o m o t i n g s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n : p r o v i s i o n o f c h o i c e , n o n c o n t r o l -

l in g f e e d b ac k , a n d t h e a c c e p t a n c e a n d a c k n o w l e d g m e n t o f t h e

o t h e r ' s p e r s p e c t iv e ( E g h r a r i D e c i , 1 9 88 ; R y a n , 1 9 82 ; Z u c k e r -

m a n e t a l . , 1 97 8) . W h e n t h e s e e l e m e n t s a r e p r e s e n t in a n i n t e r -

p e r s o n a l c o n t e x t , i n d i v i d u a l s in t h a t c o n t e x t t e n d t o b e m o r e

s e l f - d e t e r m i n i n g . T h i s e x p e r i e n c e o f s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n h a s

b e e n f o u n d t o p o s i t iv e l y a f fe c t c r e a ti v i ty , c o n c e p t u a l l e a r n i n g ,

e m o t i o n a l t o n e , a n d s e l f -e s t e e m .

R e l a t i v e l y l i t tl e r e s e a r c h h a s t a k e n t h e s e c o n s t r u c t s d i r e c t l y

i n t o a p p l i e d s e tt i n g s, a l t h o u g h s o m e w o r k h a s b e e n d o n e i n p u b -

l i c s c h o o l c l a s s r o o m s ( d e C h a r m s , 1 9 7 6; D e c i e t a l ., 1 9 8 l ; R y a n

C o n n e l l , i n p r e s s; R y a n G r o l n i c k , 1 98 6 ) a n d i n i n s t i t u -

t i o n a l h o m e s f o r t h e a g e d ( L a n g e r R o d i n , 1 97 6) . O u r i n v e st i -

g a t i o n , b y e x p l o r i n g t h e c o n c e p t o f s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n i n a w o r k

o r g a n i z a t i o n , r e p r e s e n t s a f ir s t s t e p i n e x t e n d i n g t h e p r e v i o u ss e l f -d e t e r m i n a t io n r e s e a rc h t o a n o t h e r a p p l i e d d o m a i n t h a t i s

c e n t r a l i n t h e l iv e s o f m o s t a d u l t s , a n d i t l i n k s th i s r e s e a r c h t r a -

d i t i o n t o p r e v i o u s o r g a n i z a t i o n a l r e s e a r c h o n p a r t i c i p a t i v e

m a n a g e m e n t a n d j o b e n l a r g em e n t .

I n t h i s r e s e a r c h , t h e f ir s t i s s u e e x p l o r e d w a s w h e t h e r m a n a g -

e r s ' s u p p o r t f o r t h e s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f t h e i r s u b o r d i n a t e s

wo u l d a f f e c t a s e t o f pe r c e p t u a l , a f f e c ti ve , a nd s a t i s f a c t i on va r i -

a b l e s i n t h e i r s u b o r d i n a t e s . T h e d a t a i n d i c a t e t h a t m a n a g e r s '

i n t e r p e r s o n a l o r i e n t a t i o n s d i d r e l a t e t o t h e t a r g e t v a r i a b le s , p a r -

t i c u l a r l y t o t r u s t v a r i a b l e s , a l t h o u g h t h e y d i d s o i n c o n s i s te n t l y .

W h e n t h e b r o a d c o r p o r a t e c o n d i t i o n s w e r e b a d ( p a r t i c u l a r l y

c o n c e r n i n g p a y a n d s e c u r i t y ) , t h e r e w a s n o r e l a t i o n s h i p ; b u t

w h e n b r o a d c o n d i t i o n s b e g an t o i m p r o v e a n d m a n a g e r s b e g a nt o r e c e i v e t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n t r a i n i n g , t h e r e l a t i o n s b e c a m e

s t r onge r. I t i s o f c ou r s e d i f f i c u l t t o s e p a r a t e t he e f f e c t s o f t he

i m p r o v e d c o n d i t i o n s a n d t h e t r a i n i n g , a l t h o u g h t h e t r a i n i n g w a s

p r o b a b l y v i e w e d b y t h e te c h n i c i a n s a s a n i n d i c a t i o n t h a t c o r p o -

r a t e m a n a g e m e n t w a s c o m m i t t e d t o i m p r o v i n g c o n d i t io n s i n

t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n , T h u s , i t s e e m s t h a t w h e n e m p l o y e e s w e r e v e ry

c o n c e r n e d a b o u t e x t r i n s i c e l e m e n t s s u c h a s p a y, b e n e f it s , a n d

s e c u r it y , a n d a b o u t t e n s i o n i n t h e c o r p o r a t e c l i m a t e , i m m e d i a t e

s u p e r v i s o r y i s s u es w e r e n o t a s i m p o r t a n t a s w e h a d p r e d i c t e d .

M a n a g e r s ' s u p p o r t f o r s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n i s a p p a r e n t l y n o t

T a b l e 6

Me a ns an d S tandar d D e v ia t ions fo r t he Pr e- and P os t tr e a tm e n t

G loba l Sa t i sfac tion I nde x Fr om the Em ploy e e A t t i t ude Su r v e y

for In tervent ion Branches Locat ions I and 2) and Com par ison

Branches Locat ions 4 and 5)

Pretreatment Posttreatment

Location category M S D M S D

Interventionbranches 3.31 0.86 3.48 0.69n 188 235

Com parison branches 3.65 0.65 3.44 0,70n 151 177




S E L F -D E T E R MIN A T IO N A T WO R K 5 8 9

e n o u g h t o b u f f e r e m p l o y e e s f r o m m a j o r p r o b l e m s t h a t e m e r g e

f ro m h ig h e r l e v e l s i n th e o rg a n iz a t io n , e s p e c ia l ly w h e n th e s e

p r o b l e m s t h r e a t e n p a y a n d s e c u r i t y . O n l y w h e n t h e c o m p a n y

s h o w e d c o n c re t e e v id e n c e o f b e in g c o n c e r n e d w i th th e w o rk e r s ,

b y u n f r e e z i n g w a g e s a n d b y m a k i n g a c o m m i t m e n t t o c h a n g e

th e g e n e ra l c l im a te , d id th e im m e d ia t e s u p e rv i s o ry s i tu a t io n b e -

c o m e a s t ro n g c o r re l a t e o f s a t is f a c tio n . U n d e r th e s e c o n d i t io n s ,

p r o v i d i n g a n i n f o r m a t i o n a l, a u t o n o m y - s u p p o r t i v e c o n t e x t w a sv e r y i m p o r t a n t .

T h e d a ta fu r th e r s u g g e s t t h a t t h e f i e ld m a n a g e r s a re r e p re s e n -

t a t iv e s o f th e c o rp o ra t io n fo r t h e t e c h n ic i a n s , g iv e n th e f a c t t h a t

th e m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n ta t io n s a f f e c t e d th e w o rk e r s ' p e rc e p t io n s o f

th e c o rp o ra t io n a n d i t s t o p m a n a g e m e n t . I t i s i n t e re s tin g , h o w -

e v er , t h a t t h i s r e l a t io n s h ip a p p e a re d o n ly w h e n to p m a n a g e m e n t

w a s n o t t h r e a t e n i n g t h e w o r k e r s w i t h l o ss o f p a y o r e m p l o y -

m e n t . We h a d n o t , o f c o u r s e , p re d ic t e d th e s e l im i t in g c o n d i -

t io n s o n th e r e l a t io n b e tw e e n m a n a g e r s ' s u p p o r t fo r se l f -d e te r-

m i n a t io n a n d th e s u b o rd in a te v a r i a b le s , a l th o u g h i t is a n in t e r -

e s t in g p o in t t h a t d e s e rv e s fu r th e r i n v e s t ig a t io n . I t c o u ld b e th a t

th e s e r e s u l ts s u p p o r t t h e c o n c e p t o f a h i e ra rc h y o f n e e d s (A ld e r -

fe r, 1972; Mas low, 1943), in w hic h the h ig her o rde r n eed fo r sel f -d e te rm in a t io n w a s s a l ie n t o n ly w h e n lo w e r o rd e r n e e d s fo r p a y

a n d jo b s e c u r i ty w e re w e ll s a t i sf i e d a n d th u s n o t s a l ie n t . A l t e r -

na t ive ly , the resu l ts cou ld s imply ind ica te tha t in th is s i tua t ion ,

i n w h i c h t h e a c t i o n s o f t o p m a n a g e m e n t w e r e e x t re m e l y s a l i en t

a n d w e re e x p e r i e n c e d a s n e g a t iv e , t h e t e c h n ic i a n s w e re l es s a t -

tu n e d to th e i r f i e ld m a n a g e r s ' i n d iv id u a l o r i e n ta t io n s . T h i s

w o u ld m e a n th a t t h e i r n e e d fo r s e l f -d e te rm in a t io n m a y s t i l l

h a v e b e e n s a l i e n t a n d s t ro n g , b u t t h a t t h e r e l a tiv e ly s m a l l v a r i -

a b i li t y a m o n g t h e m a n a g e r s ' o r i en t a t i o n s w a s n o t a d e q u a t e t o

p ro v id e d i f f e re n t i al s a t i s f a c t io n o f t h e n e e d a n d th u s to a f f e c t

jo b a t t it u d e s .

T h e s e c o n d fo c u s o f th i s r e s e a rc h w a s w h e th e r i t i s p o s s ib l e

to c h a n g e m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n ta t io n s ( to w a rd g re a t e r s u p p o r t fo rs e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n ) t h r o u g h t r a i n i n g a n d d e v e l o p m e n t , a n d

w h e t h e r a n y c h a n g e t h a t m i g h t o c c u r i n t h o s e o r i e n t a t i o n s

w o u ld in tu rn a f f e c t t h e i r s u b o rd in a te s ' e x p e r i e n c e o f w o rk . T h e

d a ta d o p ro v id e s o m e in d ic a t io n th a t i t i s p o s s ib l e to m a k e a

s ig n i f i c a n t c h a n g e in th e w o rk p la c e b y t r a in in g m a n a g e r s to

s u p p o r t t h e i r s u b o rd in a te s ' s e l f -d e te rm in a t io n . T h e e f f e c ts o f

th e in t e rv e n t io n o n m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n ta t io n s w a s r e a s o n a b ly w e ll

d o c u m e n te d , a l th o u g h i t s r a d ia t io n to s u b o rd in a te s w a s l e s s

c le ar . In th i s l a rg e - s ca le fi e ld e x p e r im e n t , w e e n c o u n te re d m a n y

o f t h e m e t h o d o l o g i c a l p r o b l e m s t h a t t y p i c a l l y a c c o m p a n y s u c h

r e s ea r c h , s o w e d id n o t h a v e a n a d e q u a t e t e s t o f t he i m p a c t o f

th e in t e rv e n t io n o n s u b o rd in a te s . N o n e th e le s s , b y u s in g a tw o -

p ro n g s t r a t e g y fo r t ry in g to a s c e r t a in w h e th e r th e re w a s r a d ia -t io n o f m a n a g e r e f fe ct s, w e d id o b ta in s o m e s u g g e s t io n o f p o s i -

t i ve t r e a tm e n t e f f ec t s fo r s u b o rd in a te s .

A s w e e x p e c te d , t h e re w a s n o e v id e n c e o f t r e a tm e n t e f f ec t s i n

L o c a t io n 1 a t t h e e n d o f t h e in t e rv e n t io n w h e n th e re w a s s ti ll a n

a p p r o p r i a t e c o n t r o l g r o u p . P r e s u m a b l y b e c a u s e o f t h e m i n i m a l

c o n t a c t b e t w e e n m a n a g e r s a n d s u b o r d i n a t e s , i t t o o k m a n y

w e e k s b e fo re th e c h a n g e in m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n ta t io n s a p p e a re d to

h a v e in f lu e n c e d s u b o rd in a te s . P a re n th e ti c a l ly , t h i s s p e c u la t io n

i s s u p p o r t e d b y a s u p p le m e n ta l a n a ly s is . A s o n e c a n s ee f ro m

T a b le 1 , t h e m a n a g e r s ' o r i e n ta t io n s (P A W s c o re s ) a t T im e 2 c o r -

r e l a t e d w i th o n ly tw o s u b o rd in a te v a r i a b le s a t T im e 2 ( r s g re a t e r

th a n . 4 5 ) . H o w e v e r , w h e n m a n a g e r s ' T im e 2 o r i e n ta t io n s w e re

c o r re l a t e d w i th T im e 3 s u b o rd in a te v a r i a b le s , t h e re w e re fo u r

s ig n i f ic a n t c o r re l a t io n s g re a t e r t h a n . 4 5 .

In t e rm s o f d y n a m ic s , i t i s i n t e re s t in g th a t s u b o rd in a te v a r i -

a b l es c o n c e r n e d w i t h t r u s t i n t h e c o r p o r a t i o n w e r e m o r e c l e a r l y

re l a t e d to m a n a g e r s ' s ty l e s th a n w e re a n y o f t h e o th e r s u b o rd i -

n a te v a r i a b le s, e v e n th o s e th a t s u p p o s e d ly d e s c r ib e d th e m a n a g -

e r s t h e m s e lv e s . T h i s s u g g es t s o n e o f tw o p h e n o m e n a . I t i s p o s s i -

b l e e i th e r t h a t ( a ) f i eld t e c h n ic i a n s , w h e n th e y g e t d i s s at i sf i e dw i th th e i r m a n a g e r s , d i s p la c e th o s e n e g a t iv e f e e l in g s o n to th e

l es s p r o x i m a l c o r p o r a t i o n ( i t i s s a fe r t o b l a m e t o p m a n a g e m e n t

w i t h w h o m t h e y h a ve n o c o n t a c t t h a n t o b l a m e t h e i r im m e d i a t e

s u p e rv i s o r s) ; o r , a lt e rn a t iv e ly , (b ) t h e m o re c o n t ro l l i n g m a n a g e r s

a c t u a ll y a t t r i b u te t h e i r o w n a c t i o n s t o t o p m a n a g e m e n t r a t h e r

th a n a c c e p t in g r e s p o n s ib i l i t y fo r t h e i r o w n m a n a g e r i a l b e h a v io r .

F o r e x a m p l e , T h e r e ' s n o t h i n g I c an d o a b o u t i t; th e y s a id i t h a s

t o b e d o n e i s t h e k i n d o f d i s c la i m e r b y a c o n t r o l li n g m a n a g e r

th a t c o u ld e n c o u ra g e th e d i s p la c e m e n t .

P re v io u s r e s e a rc h h a s in d ic a t e d th a t s t ru c tu ra l c h a n g e s ,

a im e d a t f a c i l i t a t in g p a r t i c ip a t iv e o r a u to n o m y -s u p p o r t iv e

m a n a g e m e n t a r e o f g r e a t v a lu e . I t i s t h e r e f o re e n c o u r a g i n g t o

n o t e t h a t e v e n m a n a g e m e n t t r a i n i n g , t h e e f f ec ts o f w h i c h a r eo f t e n th o u g h t to b e t r a n s ie n t , m a y h a v e a n im p a c t t h a t p e r s i s ts

s e ve r al m o n t h s a f t e r t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f th e p r o g r a m . I n d e e d , i n

t h i s w o r k s i t u a t i o n i n w h i c h m a n a g e r s h a v e m i n i m a l c o n t a c t

w i th th e i r s u b o rd in a te s , t h e in t e rv e n t io n ( i f i t d id h a v e a n e f f e c t

o n th e s u b o rd in a te s ) a p p e a r s to h a v e r e q u i re d a f e w m o n t h s to

h a v e a n im p a c t .

In c lo s in g , i t s e e m s re a s o n a b le to c o n c lu d e th a t , w i th c e r t a in

l im i t a t io n s , t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f s e l f -d e te rm in a t io n , p ro m o te d b y

m a n a g e r s ' b e in g a u to n o m y -s u p p o r t iv e , h a s p o s i t i v e r a m i f i c a -

t io n s fo r p e o p le ' s w o rk l i ve s. W h a t r e m a in s to b e e x p lo re d , b e -

y o n d th e p o s s ib l e l im i t in g c o n d i t io n s o n th i s e f f e c t d i s c u s s e d

p re v io u s ly , a re ( a ) t h e e x te n t t o w h ic h th e s u b o rd in a te s th e m -

s elve s c o n t r ib u te to th e i r o w n e x p e r i e n c e o f s e l f -d e te rm in a t io n

e i th e r b y u n iq u e ly in t e rp re t in g th e i r m a n a g e r ' s o r i e n ta t io n a ss u p p o r t i n g s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n o r b y b e h a v i n g i n a w a y t h a t

l e a d s th e i r m a n a g e r to b e m o re s u p p o r t iv e o f t h e i r s e l f -d e te rm i -

n a t io n ; (b ) t h e e x te n t t o w h ic h f a c to r s i n th e f i e ld m a n a g e r s '

soc ia l con tex t (e .g . , the ir superv iso rs ' supp ort o f the ir se l f -de te r-

m in a t io n ) a f f e ct th e o r i e n ta t io n th a t t h e s e f i eld m a n a g e r s h a v e

to w a rd th e i r s u b o rd in a te s ; a n d ( c) t h e e x te n t t o w h ic h w o rk e r s '

e x p e r i e n c e o f s e l f -d e te rm in a t io n , w h ic h w a s s h o w n to p o s i t i v e ly

a f fe c t m o t iv a t io n a l ly r e l e v a n t a t t i t u d e s , t r a n s l a t e s in to im -

p r o v e d p e r f o r m a n c e a n d p r o d u c ti v i ty .

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