Date of Award
5-2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Legacy Department
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Committee Chair/Advisor
Britt, Thomas W
Committee Member
Knox , David
Committee Member
Moore , D. D
Committee Member
Taylor , Mary
Abstract
The Job Demands- Resources (JD-R) model suggests that working conditions can be distinguished using two broad categories: job demands and job resources. This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal effects of perceived situational constraints (seen as a demand) and autonomous motivation (seen as a resource) on job attitudes, intention to leave, and general stress using an applied work setting. Data were collected by administrators at a midsized university campus over two time periods, separated by one year. Staff members were asked to complete an online survey that included a modified version of Ryan and Connell's (1989) Self-Regulation Scale for employees to rate their levels of autonomous motivation toward their jobs, as well as measures of positive (organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and work engagement) and negative (intention to leave, and general stress) affective states. Employees were also asked to rate their perceived constraints using Spector and Jex's (1998) Organizational Constraints Scale. Structural equation modeling techniques were used in order to test the relationships predicted. Results showed that higher levels of autonomous motivation moderated the relationship between organizational constraints and turnover intentions such that more highly motivated individuals had lower turnover intentions at lower levels of organizational constraints. However, as organizational constraints increased, more highly motivated individuals experienced a sharper increase in their desire to leave the job. Further, no significant longitudinal interactions were found. Practical implications and limitations are also discussed.
Recommended Citation
Oliver, Kalifa, "An Examination of the Relationships between Autonomous Motivation and Situational Constraints with Job Attitudes, Intention to Leave, and General Stress: A Job Demands-Resources Approach" (2012). All Dissertations. 888.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/888