Authenticity at Work: Its Relations With Worker Motivation and Well-being

Drawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci et al., 2017), this study examines the associations between authenticity at work, motivation and well-being, assuming that motivation would at least partly mediate the association between authenticty and well-being. Since authentic behavior refers to t...

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Main Authors: Ralph Van den Bosch, Toon Taris
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Communication
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fcomm.2018.00021/full
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author Ralph Van den Bosch
Toon Taris
author_facet Ralph Van den Bosch
Toon Taris
author_sort Ralph Van den Bosch
collection DOAJ
description Drawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci et al., 2017), this study examines the associations between authenticity at work, motivation and well-being, assuming that motivation would at least partly mediate the association between authenticty and well-being. Since authentic behavior refers to the degree to which a person acts in agreement with their true self (i.e., one's own core values), high levels of authenticity at work should relate positively to more intrinsic types of motivation regulation and negatively to more extrinsic types of motivation regulation. Moreover, high levels of authenticity should be associated with higher well-being at work (i.e., higher work engagement and lower burnout). Structural equation modeling using cross-sectional data from 546 participants revealed that self-determined motivation (i.e., autonomous motivation) showed positive associations with authenticity at work and that non-self-determined motivation (i.e., controlled motivation and amotivation) showed negative associations with authenticity at work. The positive associations increased in strength with increasing self-determined motivation. A similar—but reversed—pattern was found for the negative associations. Parallel mediation analysis revealed that self-determined motivation partially mediated the relationship between authenticity and well-being at work.
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spelling doaj.art-7956daaadab14a0080f9ed9694b437842022-12-21T18:33:03ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2018-05-01310.3389/fcomm.2018.00021346796Authenticity at Work: Its Relations With Worker Motivation and Well-beingRalph Van den BoschToon TarisDrawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci et al., 2017), this study examines the associations between authenticity at work, motivation and well-being, assuming that motivation would at least partly mediate the association between authenticty and well-being. Since authentic behavior refers to the degree to which a person acts in agreement with their true self (i.e., one's own core values), high levels of authenticity at work should relate positively to more intrinsic types of motivation regulation and negatively to more extrinsic types of motivation regulation. Moreover, high levels of authenticity should be associated with higher well-being at work (i.e., higher work engagement and lower burnout). Structural equation modeling using cross-sectional data from 546 participants revealed that self-determined motivation (i.e., autonomous motivation) showed positive associations with authenticity at work and that non-self-determined motivation (i.e., controlled motivation and amotivation) showed negative associations with authenticity at work. The positive associations increased in strength with increasing self-determined motivation. A similar—but reversed—pattern was found for the negative associations. Parallel mediation analysis revealed that self-determined motivation partially mediated the relationship between authenticity and well-being at work.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fcomm.2018.00021/fullAuthenticityburnoutSDTwork motivationwork engagement
spellingShingle Ralph Van den Bosch
Toon Taris
Authenticity at Work: Its Relations With Worker Motivation and Well-being
Frontiers in Communication
Authenticity
burnout
SDT
work motivation
work engagement
title Authenticity at Work: Its Relations With Worker Motivation and Well-being
title_full Authenticity at Work: Its Relations With Worker Motivation and Well-being
title_fullStr Authenticity at Work: Its Relations With Worker Motivation and Well-being
title_full_unstemmed Authenticity at Work: Its Relations With Worker Motivation and Well-being
title_short Authenticity at Work: Its Relations With Worker Motivation and Well-being
title_sort authenticity at work its relations with worker motivation and well being
topic Authenticity
burnout
SDT
work motivation
work engagement
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fcomm.2018.00021/full
work_keys_str_mv AT ralphvandenbosch authenticityatworkitsrelationswithworkermotivationandwellbeing
AT toontaris authenticityatworkitsrelationswithworkermotivationandwellbeing