Perceived Motivational Climates and Employee Energy: The Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs

Christina Nerstad*, Marjolein C.J. Caniëls, Glyn Roberts, Astrid Richardsen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

3 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

This study draws on achievement goal theory and self-determination theory to examine the associations among two motivational climates (i.e., mastery and performance) and two indicators of energy at work (i.e., vigor and emotional exhaustion), as well as the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction (i.e., autonomy, relatedness, and competence). A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted collecting data from 1,081 engineers and technologists. We applied previously validated instruments to assess the variables of interest. Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses. Our findings show that mastery climate is positively and significantly related to each of the three basic needs, whereas a performance climate is negatively and significantly related to each of the three basic needs. Further, the results indicate that the basic needs are significantly associated with both measures of energy, negatively with emotional exhaustion and positively with vigor. This pattern of results suggests that basic psychological need satisfaction mediates the relationship between motivational climates and energy at work.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1509
Number of pages14
JournalFrontiers in Psychology
Volume11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jul 2020

Keywords

  • 3 DIMENSIONS
  • ACHIEVEMENT GOAL THEORY
  • BURNOUT
  • CUTOFF VALUES
  • FIT INDEXES
  • JOB DEMANDS
  • MASTERY CLIMATE
  • METHOD BIAS
  • ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH
  • RESOURCES
  • SATISFACTION
  • SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY
  • WORK ENGAGEMENT
  • autonomy
  • competence
  • emotional exhaustion
  • mastery climate
  • performance climate
  • relatedness
  • vigor

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