Work Motivation Extrinsic motivation can snuff out intrinsic motivation, even on a
nationwide scale. Silverthorne (1996) set out to study the motivations of
employees in the public and private sectors in Taiwan. Research in the
United States showed that people working in profit and non-profit jobs had
very different personalities. The non-profit employees did not value money
as a reward. Instead, they valued their ability to make a difference in
their organization, and they had a higher need to achieve than people
employed by for-profit entities. However, Taiwan is not the United States. The public and private sector
workers did have slightly different reasons for taking their jobs, but
showed no differences when they rated how much they agreed with statements
like "The purpose of a job is to earn money" and "People's
career choice should be based on what provides a service to society."
Silverthorne explains that in Taiwan, public service is honored, which is
not always the case in the United States. With higher social status,
public employment does not just attract and reward people who like to
change their workplace. Instead, public servants have the same rewards and
motives as anyone else. |
2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education