Does Enjoyment, Guilt, and/or Rewards Motivate Faculty Research Productivity? A Large-Scale Test of Self-Determination Theory

• In Event: 61.071 - Sheraton Roundtable Session 10 - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 61.071-1 - Faculty Satisfaction and Motivation

Abstract

What motivates faculty to be productive researchers is largely unknown as institutional, demographic, and social-environmental factors explain limited variance. The current study tested the extent to which self-determined motivation served as a predictor of university faculty member’s research productivity. Analysis of a large-scale USA sample of 1,980 faculty from 21 institutions using structural equation modeling found autonomous motivation (enjoyment, value) positively related to self-reported research productivity and number of publications, beyond time spent on research. The basic needs of autonomy and competence predicted autonomous motivation, and indirectly predicted achievement. External motivation (rewards) had a relatively small positive relationship with research productivity, while introjected motivation (guilt) had no relationship. The results contribute to both the faculty development and motivation research literatures.

Authors

• Robert H. Stupnisky, University of North Dakota

• Allison BrckaLorenz, Indiana University

• Thomas F. Nelson Laird, Indiana University