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A Cultural Perspective on Motivation: Pushing the Theoretical and Methodological Boundaries

The research questions the cross-cultural generalizability of motivational frameworks developed in the West. For example, Western motivational theories in psychology posit that autonomy, that is, personal choice and discretion, is a key driver of human action. Job design theory suggests that employees are optimally motivated when allowed to take decisions on their own rather than rely on instructions from external authorities. Self-determination theorists claim that autonomy is a ‘universal’ need and that autonomy-enhancing conditions boost motivation and performance. These theories and associated empirical research also contribute to the workplace management principle that autonomy is vital to the motivation of knowledge workers. Might the empirical measures and operationalizations have a Western ethnocentric bias? Might culturally-sensitive empirical measures provide new insights into the psyche of populations that constitute a major portion of the global workforce? Using a novel online experimental paradigm that afforded a behavioral measure of motivation, we found that, contrary to this prevailing view, autonomy cues affect motivation differently among American and Indian corporate professionals. A follow-up study suggested that this interaction reflects culturally specific norms that are shared and uniquely interpreted by members of the given culture. Indians, in contrast to Americans, were motivationally receptive to the concept of interpersonal obligations, a facet of dharma, or duty-bound action. Overall, results cast doubt on the claim, made regularly in both basic and applied psychology, that enhancing autonomy is a universally preferred method for boosting motivation. 

 

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Transformational education

When

Past occurrences (1)

  • 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, 2019

Where

247 Graff Main Hall

UWL campus map for building location and nearby parking lots.

University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Graff Main Hall

Contact

For questions about this event or to request disability accommodations , contact Jane Fredrick at 608.785.8440 or jfredrick@uwlax.edu.

Parking

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