How Motivation Type Accounts for Problematic Levels of Pro-Social Engagement Across Domains of Politics, Health, and the Workplace

Abstract

Issues of problematic disengagement have been broadly studied within the domains of politics, health, and the workplace, but rarely studied across these domains. This survey-based experimental study examines the effects of motivation type on levels of engagement within and across these domains. The findings support the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation will produce greater levels of engagement than motivations with more external foundations. The study contributes to the literature by providing support for a greater focus on intrinsic motivation in persuasion efforts across virtually all industries. It also provides a useful measure for assessing engagement levels across domains and scholarly disciplines.

Keywords:

• Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES)
• Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
• pro-social engagement
• political engagement
• health engagement
• work engagement

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Compliance with Ethical Standards

The author has no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose and no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. The study design, survey instrument, and informed consent mechanism were approved for minimal-risk human participant research by the University at Albany Institutional Review Board (Protocol #16-X-289-01). The research received no grant support from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes

1. Some scholars have used the term “depersonalization” interchangeably with or in preference to cynicism (e.g., E. Bakker et al., 2003; Halbesleben & Demerouti, 2005).

2. Similarly, voter fatigue, cynicism about politics, and lack of political efficacy have been cited as reasons for low voter turnouts (e.g., Jones & Hudson, 1998; Zukin et al., 2006).

3. See Table 3, below.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no grant support from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Roger Gans

Roger Gans An Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Texas at Arlington, Roger Gans’s professional experience includes more than 30 years as a copywriter, creative director, and communication consultant. A graduate of Cornell University with a B.A. in Social Relations, he received his Ph.D. in Communication from the SUNY University at Albany.