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Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do

  • What is it that actuates a person to really engage with their work instead of simply going through the motions? Through what means can an individual become involved and immersed in their appointed task? A textbook definition of motivation proposes it to be the sum of ‘the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort towards attaining a goal’ (Robbins & Judge, 2015), and adjudges it as a ‘psychological process resulting from the interaction between the individual and the environment’ (Latham & Pinder, 2005). Since the 1940s a succession of theories has interrogated the interaction of the various needs and values of the individual with those of the organisation, with a theoretical cleft lying about the origin of the motivation, hypothesised as springing from an external or from an internal source (Ryan & Deci, 2000a), with external motivation arising from incidentals associated with but outside the work itself while internal motivation emerges from the enjoyment that the worker derives from the task. A third very important type of motivation, prosocial motivation, taps into the desire to protect and care for others (Grant & Berg, 2011). However, one particular class of influential values that have the potential to motivate has hitherto been ignored: that of one’s religious beliefs. This is especially puzzling as religiosity or religiousness has experienced a recent surge, especially during the past decade. For example, in 2014 around 41% religiously affiliated American adults affirmed that they rely mainly on their religion’s tenets to guide them morally, a startling increase from the 34% who answered accordingly in 2007 (Pew Research Center, 2015). Closely associated with and reinforcing this motivational source is a second unexplored possible wellspring of motivation: one’s sense of chosenness in the religious sense. Present mainly in the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), chosenness is the feeling that one has been selected, or elected by a supernatural entity, often for a specific reason or a special mission.

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Metadaten
Author:Glenn Leihner-Guarin
URN:urn:nbn:de:hbz:992-opus4-8941
Subtitle (English):how religious beliefs and a sense of chosenness actuate and inform an individual’s motivation in the workplace
Publisher:WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management
Place of publication:Düsseldorf
Referee:Jochen Menges, Sascha L. Schmidt
Document Type:Doctoral Thesis
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2022/01/24
Date of first Publication:2022/01/24
Publishing Institution:WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management
Granting Institution:WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management
Date of final exam:2021/05/10
Release Date:2022/01/24
Tag:Leistungsmotivation; Religiosität
Religiousness; Work motivation
Page Number:230
Institutes:WHU Management Group / Chair of Leadership and Human Resource Management
Licence (German):Copyright this PhD thesis