Individual and social motivations to contribute to commons-based peer production.

The present study uncovers the motivations driving certain Internet users to contribute to commons-based peer production. The study combines the literature of volunteerism, uses and gratifications, and social identity theory as the theoretical framework. Findings from the preliminary in-depth interviews were combined with that of prior literatures to develop a questionnaire, which was designed to uncover the individual and social motivations driving commons-based peer production. The questionnaire was administered to a random sample of top Wikipedia editors in the form of an online survey. The results revealed an eight-factor structure of motivation composed by both self- and other-focused, individual and social motivations such as “career benefits,” “social desirability,” “concern for others’ well-being,” “cognitive group membership,” “avoidance of negative self-affect,” “need to be entertained,” “seeking of creative stimulation,” and “providing information.” Additional analysis revealed that “providing information,” “seeking of creative stimulation” and “concern for others’ well-being” were the three strongest motivations while “seeking of creative stimulation,” “need to be entertained,” and “providing information” were the three significantly correlated motivations with one’s satisfaction gained from editing Wikipedia.

Author dc:creator

• Suzuki, Yoshikazu

• Mass Communication

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

http://purl.umn.edu/119040

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:conservancy.umn.edu:11299/119040