Dynamic person, context, and event determinants of individual motivation in teams

Teams have become increasingly popular in organizations (Devine, Clayton, Philips, Dunford, & Melner, 1999), and the issue of process loss in teams presents a persistent challenge to teamwork and team effectiveness (Karau & Williams, 1993). The present study addresses a basic issue in process loss; namely, team member motivation to contribute personal resources toward individual and team-level goals. This study identified three sources of motivation in teams: Task demands, team attributes, and member traits. Individual motivation increased with task difficulty, increased as deadlines approached, and declined overall with time on task. Team efficacy was positively associated with episodic increases in motivation over time, while cohesion was unrelated to motivation. Trait motivation was positively related, and psychological collectivism negatively related to individual motivation. This relationship persisted over the lifespan of the team. The results of this study have implications for understanding the unique and joint role of individual and contextual influences on team member motivation over time and experience.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Psychology

Grantor dc:publisher

Georgia Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Posnock, Samuel Joseph

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kanfer, Ruth

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Weiss, Howard M.
• Zaccaro, Stephen
• DeChurch, Leslie
• Thomas, Rick

• Motivation
• Resource allocation
• Teams
• Context
• Team emergent states

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1853/53847

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.gatech.edu:1853/53847