The Relation Between Financial Incentives, Motivation, and Performance: An Integrative SDT-Based Investigation

To this day, researchers are debating the adequacy of using financial incentives to bolster performance in work settings. Our goal was to contribute to current understanding by considering the moderating role of distributive justice in the relation between financial incentives, motivation, and perfo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personnel psychology 2017-01, Vol.16 (2), p.61-76
Main Authors: Thibault Landry, Anaïs, Gagné, Marylène, Forest, Jacques, Guerrero, Sylvie, Séguin, Michel, Papachristopoulos, Konstantinos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Distributive Justice
Employee Motivation
Female
Human
Job Performance
Male
Monetary Incentives
Psychological Needs
Self-Determination
Theories
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Summary:To this day, researchers are debating the adequacy of using financial incentives to bolster performance in work settings. Our goal was to contribute to current understanding by considering the moderating role of distributive justice in the relation between financial incentives, motivation, and performance. Based on self-determination theory, we hypothesized that when bonuses are fairly distributed, using financial incentives makes employees feel more competent and autonomous, which in turn fosters greater autonomous motivation and lower controlled motivation, and better work performance. Results from path analyses in three samples supported our hypotheses, suggesting that the effect of financial incentives is contextual, and that compensation plans using financial incentives and bonuses can be effective when properly managed.
ISSN:1866-5888
2190-5150
DOI:10.1027/1866-5888/a000182