An exploratory field study of intrinsis and extrinsic satisfaction among volunteers and paid staff

The primary purpose of this thesis was to test the generalizability of Deci's theory and findings which suggest that monetary rewards decrease intrinsic motivation. A secondary purpose was to explore the relation of two personality factors-locus of control and self-esteem-to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

A volunteer group was used to represent the unpaid condition found in past tests of Deci's theory while a comparable group of paid staff represented the noncontingent, extrinsic reward condition. A survey questionnaire was distributed to 30 volunteers and 30 paid staff by the Director of Volunteer Services at an East Tennessee Mental Health Center. The Director was responsible for matching the volunteers and paid staff on jobs. Forty-six (76%) usable questionnaires were returned. The questionnaire consisted of two sections from Hackman & Oldham's Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS), a one-item measure of job effort, a one-item measure of job effectiveness, and a one-item measure of general job satisfaction, the short forms of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire (MIQ), Rotter's locus of control scale and Rosenberg's self-esteem scale.

A 2x2x2 unbalanced factorial analysis of variance was employed to test six hypotheses. The major findings of those analyses were that the volunteers were more extrinsically satisfied than were the paid staff with fair administrative practices and with their social status in the community. Paid staff placed greater importance on an extrinsic job outcome, job security, and an intrinsic job outcome, variety, than did the volunteers. Finally, respondents low in self-esteem (LSE) were more intrinsically satisfied with achievement and more extrinsically satisfied with authority than were respondents high in self-esteem (HSE).

It was tentatively concluded that the results provide little support for Deci's theory and suggest a limitation in the generalization of his findings to more mature populations, more complex tasks and a wider variety of job outcomes. It was tentatively concluded that volunteers are as extrinsically motivated as paid staff and that the long-term effects of receiving an expected, noncontingent extrinsic reward such as a salary may not decrease intrinsic satisfaction. Unlike most field studies testing the relationship between self-esteem and job satisfaction, the results of this thesis were interpreted as supporting self-enhancement theory. The reader was warned of the limited generality of these

findings. Before recommendations can be made, future research is needed to overcome some of the limitations noted in this study.