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.
Author: | Glenn Leihner-Guarin |
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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 |