Virtual work presents numerous benefits in contemporary workplaces yet concurrently might pose substantial challenges, notably impacting employees' well-being and team dynamics. This study investigated the Totem activity, a digital gamified team exercise designed to promote employees' strengths. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), it is proposed that the intervention positively influences employees' well-being and perceived team effectiveness by enhancing need satisfaction and autonomous motivation. Using an experimental design, our study examined the impact of the activity on 58 teams (n = 395) and compared it with a wait-list control group of seven teams (n = 67). The data were gathered pre- and post-intervention for both groups, with the experimental group answering a third questionnaire 3 weeks post-intervention (n = 202). Multilevel analyses revealed that the experimental group displayed notable increases in all the studied variables post-intervention compared to the control group. Longitudinal analyses using a latent change score model showed that variations in need satisfaction during the Totem activity predicted changes in work motivation, psychological well-being, and team effectiveness across 3 weeks. This study shows that a digital strengths-based team intervention like Totem is an affordable, scalable, and self-directed way to support employees' psychological needs and, thus, overcome challenges associated with virtual work.

Bonuses are notoriously used to motivate workers. How effective are they at doing so, and might there be unintended consequences? We investigated the effectiveness of bonuses based on game profitability on the motivation of video game developers by examining specific bonus characteristics that align with advice derived from expectancy theory. We also investigated if bonuses encouraged or discouraged moral engagement and corner-cutting behavior through their effects on work motivation as conceptualized through self-determination theory. Company data on bonus characteristics coupled with surveys from 1024 game developers in a video game company indicated that the size of the last received bonus did not influence current work motivation. Uncertain probability of getting the next bonus installment was related to a lack of motivation, while more certain probability was related to higher intrinsic motivation. The probable size of the next bonus was related to lower external regulation and to higher intrinsic motivation, contrary to predictions from most motivation theories. Both probability certainty and bonus size probability were indirectly negatively associated with moral disengagement and corner-cutting behaviors via decreasing amotivation and external regulation. Overall, results show that the bonus system in this company had limited effects on motivation and on discouraging deviant behaviors and point to how such systems can be improved using advice from theory.

Self-determination theory (SDT) describes the influence of one's social environment on their well-being and development through the satisfaction or frustration of their psychological needs. This study investigates how athletes' perceptions of their coaches' behaviors influence their psychobiological health through psychological needs. By further integrating heart rate variability (HRV), a psychobiological marker of the autonomic nervous system balance, we further SDT-based research by providing a nuanced understanding of coaching behaviors' effect on athletes' chronic and acute stress responses. We used a daily diary design spanning two weeks of training and multilevel modeling to analyze data from 72 student-athletes. We found that perceptions of autonomy-supportive coaching behaviors led to greater overall need satisfaction, which then predicted engagement and prevented burnout. Perceptions of controlling coaching behaviors led to greater need frustration and, indirectly, increased burnout. At the between-individual level, perceptions of controlling coaching behaviors were associated with a greater increase in acute stress, while perceptions of autonomy-supportive behaviors were not. Our results entail that continuous exposure to controlling coaching behaviors can be detrimental to athletes' physiological system. Surprisingly, when coaching behaviors were held constant, need frustration was negatively associated with change in acute stress. Athletes reporting greater need frustration may disengage and show a blunt stress response, potentially reflecting a coping mechanism in response to need frustration. Our findings highlight the complex interplay between coaching behaviors, psychological needs, and autonomic nervous system balance within the SDT framework, deepening our understanding of athletes' experiences and promoting adaptive coaching strategies to foster their well-being.

This study aims to explore the impact of talent identification practices on employees' psychological needs and to examine the mediating role of distributive justice/injustice between talent identification and psychological needs. Additionally, it investigates procedural justice/injustice as a moderating variable in this mediation. A cross-sectional sample (n=124) with clinical vignettes was used to test the hypotheses through moderated mediation analysis. The findings reveal three key insights. First, talent identification significantly correlates with psychological needs. High-potential individuals reported greater satisfaction of their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness compared to non-high potential employees employees, who reported higher frustration levels. Second, high potentials perceived greater distributive justice, correlating with increased psychological need satisfaction. Conversely, non-high potential employees perceived higher distributive injustice, leading to greater psychological need frustration. Third, procedural justice/injustice did not significantly moderate the mediation. However, procedural justice/injustice was significantly related to psychological needs, independent of distributive justice/injustice. Our research makes a vital addition to the human resource management (HRM) field by providing quantitative empirical analysis of talent identification where prior work has been largely conceptual or qualitative. Given the current labor market's supply-demand imbalance, these is critical.

Whether compensation serves as a motivational resource for employees is still a debated subject. It has been suggested that the effect of pay on motivation could be contingent on the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs as outlined by self‐determination theory. The current research explored the role of amount of base pay as well as pay fairness discrepancy in relation to basic psychological need satisfaction, autonomous work motivation and, in turn, psychological well‐being (i.e., vigor and emotional exhaustion), turnover intentions, and work performance. Managerial need support was also included in the model, so its mechanisms and its effects on the outcomes could be measured against those of pay. Using a combination of archival data and employees' self‐reports from 593 Norwegian workers, results revealed that amount of base pay did not predict satisfaction of any of the basic needs, pay fairness discrepancy negatively predicted satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and relatedness and positively predicted satisfaction of the need for competence, whereas managerial need support significantly predicted satisfaction of all three needs. While there was no significant direct relation from amount of base pay to any of the outcomes, results showed a significant direct relation from managerial need support to psychological well‐being (positive to vigor and negative to emotional exhaustion) and turnover intentions (negative). There was also a significant direct positive relation from pay fairness discrepancy to turnover intentions.

Background Positive psychology focuses on enhancing attitudes and behaviors that support well-being, with a key pillar being the use of psychological strengths for optimal functioning. This is linked to positive outcomes such as increased happiness and life satisfaction. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric validity of the French adaptation of the Strengths Use Scale (SUS), a self-report tool measuring how individuals use their strengths in daily life. The original SUS, developed by Govindji and Linley (2007), has not been thoroughly assessed across languages and cultures. Method The French SUS’s psychometric properties were examined using data from six independent French-speaking Canadian samples ( N = 1397). After removing cases with missing data, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on a subsample to establish the optimal factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was then performed to assess the factor structure’s goodness-of-fit. Results Both EFA and CFA supported a unidimensional structure of the scale. The French SUS demonstrated good internal consistency (α = .94). The one-factor model yielded an RMSEA of .122, indicating some model misspecification. However, allowing residuals of some items to covary improved the model fit (RMSEA = .077). Conclusion The adapted French SUS exhibits similar properties to the original and presents no new consistency issues. This study contributes to adapting and validating the SUS in French for research and clinical practice. Future research should focus on developing a shorter version by eliminating redundancies and adapting the scale for children to evaluate positive psychology interventions' efficacy in youth.

La recherche basée sur la théorie de l’autodétermination met de l’avant l’importance de la présence simultanée de quatre types de motivation (intrinsèque, identifiée, introjectée, et extrinsèque) au sein des individus. La présente étude a pour objectif de découvrir comment les contraintes (p.ex., charge de travail) et les ressources (p.ex., soutien du superviseur) au travail sont liées à différents profils motivationnels. Un deuxième but de l’étude est d’identifier les conséquences des différents profils motivationnels pour le bien-être des employés (stress). Des analyses de profil latent réalisées sur un vaste échantillon de gestionnaires et d’employés (n = 1914) ont révélés la présence de quatre profils motivationnels. En outre, des analyses de régression logistiques ont démontré que le profil motivationnel élevé (niveau élevé des quatre formes de motivation) est plus fortement associé aux ressources, tandis que les profils très faible et faible (niveau faible des quatre types de motivation) sont plus fortement associés à la présence de conditions de travail considérées comme des contraintes. Finalement, le profil élevé démontre une association négative avec le niveau de stress. Les résultats amènent des recommandations pratiques quant aux manières les plus efficaces de favoriser une motivation élevée chez les employés.

Abstract Self-determination theory (SDT) has proven to be a versatile and useful theory when applied to the work setting. This chapter addresses the various consequences of the different types of work motivation and psychological need satisfaction and frustration by reviewing recent meta-analyses and research on these subjects. It then presents the research efforts that have been done on three different streams of basic psychological needs’ antecedents: compensation, interpersonal relationship/leadership, and job design. Discussing total pay, inequities, and transparency as well as wealth and taxes as a duty for redistribution, the chapter opens up the debate about how SDT can be used not only for organizational research but also for studying macro topics related to the job market and the economy in general. It concludes by arguing that SDT has established itself as one of the leading theories of work motivation.

Allumer la flamme de leurs équipes et la nourrir font partie des préoccupations récurrentes des gestionnaires. Et si la théorie de l’autodétermination était la clé ? Aperçu d’une approche scientifique qui a fait ses preuves.

In recent research, a growing body of empirical evidence suggests that prosocial impact at work can play a significant role in enhancing creativity and innovativeness. Drawing from self-determination theory, we hypothesized that basic psychological needs and benevolence satisfaction could serve as a mediating factor in the relation between an employee's perceived social impact and innovative work behavior and creativity, thus illuminating the manner in which the contentment of psychological needs fosters inventive proclivities within the organizational milieu. Results from a study in Greece and Canada (N = 528) showed that both perceived social impact and prosocial motivation are positively associated with innovative work behavior and creativity while autonomy and competence satisfaction mediate the relation between perceived social impact and the work outcomes examined within this study. Moreover, prosocial motivation was found to moderate the relation between benevolence satisfaction and innovativeness. Findings extend prior research on the role of prosociality on creative behavior at work and provide supporting evidence for the organizations that encourage and support employees' initiatives to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate coaches’ experience of the reROOT program, a program aiming to increase coaches’ autonomy-supportive skills, structure, and involvement. We delivered the program to 32 university sports coaches, and of these coaches, 13 participated in three semistructured focus groups 2 weeks postprogram and discussed their experience of the program. Guiding questions aimed at assessing participants’ responsiveness to the program and its perceived usefulness. Classical content analyses were performed and organized based on the guiding questions when applicable. Results suggest that coaches appreciated the program, believed that they could implement its skills in their day-to-day coaching, and observed positive impacts on themselves and their athletes despite the COVID-19 pandemic. It thus appears that coaches are responsive to the reROOT program and that it could be a useful part of their training.