Middle managers are important role players in organisations today. They are the link between the executive and the employees of organisations. Managers must ensure that the employees under their supervision fulfil their duties and responsibilities in the execution of their tasks, in order that the organisation achieves the strategic goals as set by the executive. For employees to perform at their peak and to ensure continual motivation, employees should find themselves in a motivated work environment. Managers are key to establishing this motivating climate; however they are only able to do this if they have sufficient authority to motivate their subordinates. Managers must not only have the authority, but they must also have the leadership skills and capacity to motivate. The question which forms the base of this research is whether managers are authorised and equipped to motivate their subordinates. The research topic fell within the quantitative paradigm with data being collected through the use of a questionnaire, which was distributed via electronic means to a sample of the population. The sample was selected using a non-random sampling method. The results were analysed and interpreted to ascertain if they aligned with the theory. The Respondents confirmed that motivation is deemed important which is the responsibility of managers to motivate their subordinates. The organisations in which the managers work should enable them to reward and recognise the employees. It was clear that the authority to reward and recognise is still limited in organisations, which creates substantial complications for managers who are not able to utilise all the tools of motivation which is needed for subordinates to achieve their full potential. Recommendations were submitted that organisations should consider effectively empowering and up-skilling their managers on all the tools of motivation and techniques on how to enhance their emotional intelligence to better understand and motivate their subordinates.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / A great amount of research has been done concerning the influence of debilitating anxiety in relation to performance and achievement motivation of students and pupils. Whilst attention has been focused on the negative aspects of anxiety and fear of failure, indications are found in the research literature that a certain level of anxiety may facilitate the performance and achievement motivation of pupils and students in evaluative and achievement situations. This study forms part of the project "Learning Motivation", which is an interdisciplinary project undertaken by the departments of Education and Psychology. In this research an attempt has been made to analyse the construct of positive fear of failure and to place it within a nomological frame of reference insofar as it pertains to the performance and achievement motivation of pupils in the secondary school phase. Correlational studies were undertaken to determine the relationship between positive fear of failure (facilitating anxiety), achievement motivation, performance and negative fear of failure (debilitating anxiety).

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Although prior work has investigated the important influence of social norms, research has yet to explore the differential impact of internalization (i.e., the degree to which social norms regulate one’s behavior by integrated personal values versus external pressures) on different types of social norms. This dissertation compares the motivational underpinnings of moral rules and social conventions. To do so, I examine both norm adherence and responses to observed violations. Chapter 1 examines how internalization influences adherence to different norms. In three studies across different contexts, I found that intrinsic motivation (i.e., inner valuation) drives adherence to moral rules, whereas extrinsic motivation (i.e., the weight placed on the community’s judgments and sanctions) drives adherence to social conventions. Chapter 2 investigates individuals’ reactions to moral or conventional norm violations. Across seven studies, I showed that extrinsic and intrinsic motivations for norms moderate observers’ responses to different types of norm violations in terms of inappropriateness (i.e., cognitive response), anger (i.e., emotional response), punishment (i.e., behavioral tendency), and heart rate reactivity (i.e., physiological response). Results suggest that for moral norms, negative reactions to violations are stronger for individuals feeling higher intrinsic motivation. However, for social conventions, negative reactions are greater for individuals with higher extrinsic motivation. Chapter 3 introduces an important motivational concept—need for cognitive closure (NFCC, i.e., desperation to seek an answer). With two different studies, I found that NFCC is more likely to make people stressed out when confronting violations to moral than to conventional norms. Taken together, this dissertation has established the critical interaction between the domain of norms and one’s motivation to influence norm adherence and enforcement.

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Individuals may approach an activity with either intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivational orientations are characterized by simplicity and predictability. Intrinsic motivation is characterized by novelty, complexity, and challenge. Task noncontingent rewards, in contrast to task contingent rewards, have been found to maintain or foster increases in intrinsic interest in a task. One explanation of this effect is that additional nonspecific factors like the perceived warmth of the experimenter was positively correlated with the noncontingent reward condition. To test this assumption, second grade subjects played with a game of intermediate complexity in one of four conditions: "cold" instructor with contingent reward, "cold" instructor with noncontingent rewards, "warm" instructor with contingent reward, and "warm" instructor with noncontingent reward. In a subsequent free-choice period, simple, intermediate, and complex versions of the game, as well as other activities, were available. The "warm" instructor was expected to create a greater positive affect toward the task which was measured by the amount of time spent with the complex game during free-choice time. Contrary to expectations, no significant difference was found between the four groups. Possible explanations of these findings are discussed.

The current study tests the adequacy of three self-motive theories to predict recall of performance feedback, memory sensitivity, and ratings of perceived accuracy. Self-enhancement (Jones, 1973) predicts individuals are motivated to maintain their self-esteem. Individuals will therefore recall positive relative to negative feedback and will rate positive feedback as more accurate. Self-consistency theory (Swann, 1985) predicts individuals are motivated to maintain their self-conceptions. Therefore they will recall feedback consistent with their expectations and rate consistent feedback as more accurate. Finally, Competence motivation (White, 1959) predicts individuals are motivated to master their environment and predicts individuals will recall feedback about important feedback dimensions, or feedback with high diagnostic value. The results clearly show individuals are biased toward recalling negative feedback. Individuals tended to recall more specific negative feedback statements relative to specific positive feedback statements (p < .06), and recalled more total information about negative feedback dimensions compared to positive feedback dimensions (p < .05). The superior recall for negative feedback may be explained by two theories. The first is a modified version of competence motivation. Recalling negative information may help the individual master his/her environment because negative feedback indicates which behaviors were performed below standard, and need to be changed. Self-enhancement theory may also explain these results. Individuals may have attempted to refute the validity of the negative feedback, and this lead to greater processing of and enhanced recall for this information. Memory sensitivity data did not support any of the theories. Ratings of feedback accuracy supported previous literature and showed clear support for self.enhancement theory. Individuals rated positive feedback as more accurate than negative feedback, but only when the feedback dimensions were important or had high diagnostic value. / Ph. D.

This research explores the meaning and relationship of the constructs of effectiveness, performance, and motivation among teams in a high performance manufacturing setting. Effectiveness is defined as actual outcomes; performance is characterized as those types of behaviors required of teams to achieve those outcomes. Motivation at the team level of analysis is conceived as collective efficacy -- the members' confidence in their team's ability to perform. Two types of antecedents to collective efficacy are explored -- prior success and compositional characteristics of the teams. / Ph. D.

Csikszentmihalyi’s (1975) concept of flow was examined in a sample of 81 four-year-olds. Intrinsic motivation to continue playing, measured by the number of attempts to toss a bean bag through a target, was observed in both a choice and an assigned condition, order counterbalanced. In the assigned condition, subjects were randomly assigned to an easy or hard level of challenge, whereas in the choice condition, subjects could control the level of difficulty of the game by varying their distance from the target. Children in the choice condition made significantly (p < .05) more attempts than did children in the assigned-hard condition, and subjects in the assigned-easy condition made significantly (p < .05) more attempts than those in the hard condition, but there was no difference between the choice and easy conditions. No effect was found due to order in which conditions were received. Significant school differences were found in the choice condition only. Findings were interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that choice of level of difficulty has a significant positive effect on intrinsic motivation to continue an activity. / Master of Science

This study attempted to impact length of time in treatment, treatment participation, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, stage of change, and alcohol use at follow-up, using a brief motivational interviewing intervention (Miller & Rollnick, 1991). The subjects were 42 alcohol dependent adult men in an inpatient substance abuse treatment program in a Veterans Administration Medical Center in southwestern Virginia. One-half of the subjects (n = 20) were randomly assigned to receive a brief motivational interviewing intervention at the beginning of the usual 28 day treatment program. Contrary to predictions, subjects who received motivational interviewing did not remain in treatment significantly longer, were not rated as significantly more involved in treatment, and did not score significantly higher in self-efficacy than subjects who did not receive the motivational interviewing intervention. Subjects who received motivational interviewing also did not use less alcohol at follow-up, 1 month after the end of treatment. In a set of regression analyses, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, and stage of change were used to predict days in treatment and therapist ratings of treatment participation. Implications of these findings for further research incorporating motivational interviewing are discussed. / Ph. D.