Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2023, Human Factors and Industrial/Organizational Psychology MS

Organizational leaders want to retain employees who are healthy and motivated. Physical and mental health issues are on the rise in America for younger and older generations. Researchers have found that higher levels of autonomy relate to improved mental health, physical health, job satisfaction, performance, and the list goes on. However, a gap in the literature is a lack of understanding of the complex relationships between autonomy and outcomes, both functional and dysfunctional. I found that intrinsic motivation and autonomy support can compensate for lower levels of autonomy in one's work. These new findings provide researchers and organizational leaders with a modern perspective on past well-established findings. Organizational leaders can directly improve their employees' work and life outcomes by allocating resources and implementing interventions to align employees with work they enjoy and train leaders to better support their employees' autonomy.

Committee: Debra Steele-Johnson Ph.D. (Advisor); Nathan Bowling Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ion Juvina Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1965, Psychology

Committee: Richard P. Shore (Advisor) Subjects: Occupational Psychology

Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.), Franklin University, 2020, Health Programs

The healthcare industry is continuously faced with increasingly difficult challenges. This is especially true in rural healthcare environments where additional challenges make leading healthcare organizations even more complex. Part of this challenge in effective healthcare leadership is maintaining a motivated and engaged front line workforce within the organization. There are a multitude of benefits to having more highly motivated frontline employees, many of which are discussed in this dissertation. Employee motivation can be strongly impacted, either positively or negatively, by the leadership qualities possessed by the leaders overseeing frontline employees. A gap in academic research was identified in the field of leadership behaviors related to their impacts on employee motivation in rural outpatient healthcare delivery. Therefore, this qualitative study was developed, conducted, and the data were analyzed to attempt to close that gap in research. This qualitative research study analyzed the leadership behaviors and techniques that are currently employed within the population, as well as analyzed the most effective motivational strategies for employees working in rural outpatient healthcare environments. The study concluded that leadership qualities that are personal in nature and focused on leader-follower relationships are more effective in motivating and driving employees than other factors. This study also provides guidance for future potential research within this environment to gain an even better understanding of how to overcome motivational challenges faced by leaders in rural healthcare settings.

Committee: George Velez (Committee Chair); David Meckstroth (Committee Member); Dail Fields (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Care; Health Care Management; Health Sciences

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2019, Educational Leadership

This manuscript describes a research study regarding supervisor influence in the workplace with potential effects on employee effort. It contributes to current literature because it focuses specifically on supervisor power and the effects on employee motivation through the moderation of supervisor gender and employee locus of control in a business context. Specifically, it discusses French and Raven's (1959) power dynamics as the basis for supervisor influence. Further examining employee motivation, Ryan, Williams, and Deci's (2009) self-determination theory and Rotter's (1966) locus of control assist in understanding the impact that supervisor influence has on employees. This manuscript hypothesized a positive relationship between supervisors using reward power and employee effort, as well as a negative relationship between supervisors exhibiting coercive power and employee effort. Gender (primary) and locus of control (secondary) were used as moderating variables. Results indicated a positive relationship existed between reward power and employee effort. Results also indicated a positive relationship between supervisors using coercive power and employee effort. The supplemental analyses revealed that female supervisors who influenced employees using coercive power was positively related to employee effort, but that this relationship was neutralized for male supervisors. To test the hypotheses, 155 full-time employees directly reporting to a supervisor, participated from a variety of organizations. In terms of theoretical contributions, this work contributes to gender and power literature, as it illustrates that supervisor gender dictates whether coercive power relates to motivation in the form of employee effort. In terms of practical implications, the findings illustrate that males and females should consider the manner in which they leverage their power (i.e., reward versus coercive) when attempting to influence employee effort.

Committee: Thelma Horn Dr. (Advisor); Scott Dust Dr. (Committee Chair); Melissa Chase Dr. (Committee Member); Joel Malin Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Management; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1983, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1978, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2016, Organizational Behavior

While the ideal self has been used as a component of several motivation theories (Markus & Wurf, 1987; Higgins, 1987; Boyatzis & Akrivou, 2006), it has not received as much empirical research attention, and even less quantitative research. This study extends work on the measurement of the ideal self—defined as “an evolving, motivational core within the self, focusing a person's desires and hope, aspirations and dreams, purpose and calling” (Boyatzis & Akrivou, 2006: 625)—to explain how employees perform and feel about their jobs, as well as how they interact with and are viewed by other organizational members. Past theories have claimed that performance is more a function of the “fit” between the person's Real Self (i.e., their abilities, competencies and attitudes) and the task demands of the job and organization (Boyatzis, 1982; Fiedler, 1967). This study proposes that aspirations and dreams drive employee performance and behavior beyond the fit between role and an employee's demonstrable abilities. Therefore, it is proposed that employees who find opportunities for synergy between their job roles and their ideal self are more engaged and better organizational members, who also go out of their way to help their peers, and are perceived to better perform their jobs than employees who experience less of this synergy. Results from an SEM analysis provide evidence that the ideal self impacts how employees feel about their lives (i.e. well-being), how they behave at work (i.e. in-role task behavior, extra-role helping behaviors, and reputational effectiveness), and the quality of their work relationships (PNEA work climate). Furthermore, results provide support for the mediating role of the quality of work relationship in the relationship between the ideal self and employee engagement and well-being.

Committee: Richard Boyatzis (Committee Chair); Diana Bilimoria (Committee Member); Ron Fry (Committee Member); Chris Burant (Committee Member) Subjects: Organizational Behavior

Master of Arts (M.A.), Xavier University, 2012, Psychology

Previous research has suggested that effort level - in the form of willingness to help - can be affected by the presence of a reward and type of reward being offered (Heyman & Ariely, 2004). Reward types generally fall into two primary categories: social exchanges, which are friendly and non-contractual, and economic exchanges, which are typically defined by monetary exchanges and are contractual in nature. Interpersonal citizenship behaviors (ICBs) are a proxy for effort in the current study, as they are defined by employees helping one another with work - or personal-related matters in the workplace (Williams & Anderson, 1991). The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of type of reward (social vs. monetary vs. mixed vs. no reward) on willingness to engage in ICBs within in-group supervisor-supervisee relationships. Results showed that there was an overall significant effect of reward type on willingness to engage in ICBs. Post-hoc tests revealed that the monetary condition was significantly higher than the control condition. Furthermore, the control condition yielded the lowest ICB score, and the three reward conditions had very similar means, suggesting that the presence of any type of reward may have been slightly more influential in eliciting effort than the absence of a reward. Moreover, in contrast to previous research that suggested that mixed rewards are perceived as monetary and not social (Heyman & Ariely, 2004), results showed that participants viewed social and mixed rewards similarly, but viewed monetary and mixed rewards significantly differently. Overall, the findings suggest that exchange marketplaces seem to be more complex when they occur in the workplace.

Committee: Dalia L. Diab Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Mark S. Nagy Ph.D. (Committee Member); Morell E. Mullins Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Occupational Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2009, Organizational Behavior

Previous studies have examined the dynamics and consequences of corporate citizenship behavior at the organizational level of analysis without considering how corporate actions impact individual employees. This study explores how an employee's perception of their company's corporate citizenship influences their experiences at work. Drawing on research in corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and corporate citizenship, I develop four hypotheses. I expect that employees who perceive higher levels of corporate citizenship will report higher levels of engagement, high-quality connections, and creative involvement. In addition, the importance of corporate citizenship to the employee should moderate those relationships. Two surveys were constructed and validated to measure an employee's perception of their company's corporate citizenship, and the importance of corporate citizenship to the employee. The surveys are the first scholarly instruments for measuring individual level variables for corporate citizenship. They were pilot tested and show reliability and validity in the dissertation data. Survey responses from 347 employees in six companies were analyzed with regression and structural equation modeling, The results supported the hypotheses that employees who perceive higher levels of corporate citizenship will report higher levels of engagement, high-quality connections, and creative involvement. However, the moderator hypothesis was not supported. I conclude that employees are more engaged, develop higher quality relationship, and are more creatively involved when they perceive their company to be a good corporate citizen.

Committee: Sandy Kristin Piderit PhD (Committee Chair); David Cooperrider PhD (Advisor); Susan Case PhD (Committee Member); Chris Laszlo PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Behaviorial Sciences; Ecology; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior