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Self determination theory and employed job search

Author

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  • Welters, Riccardo
  • Mitchell, William
  • Muysken, Joan

Abstract

Self Determination Theory (SDT) predicts that employees who use controlled motivation to search for alternate (better) work are less successful than their counterparts who use autonomous motivation. Using Australian labour market data, we find strong support for SDT. We find that workers who face externally regulated pressures (pressure arising from involuntary part-time or casual labour contracts) to search for alternate employment are less likely to find better work, than workers who use autonomous motives to search for work. Our findings suggest that labour market policies trending towards ‘labour market flexibility/deregulation’ – which provide workers with controlled motives to search for work – will contribute to workers cycling through spells of insecure employment and possibly intermittent spells of unemployment with no realistic prospect of career development.

Suggested Citation

  • Welters, Riccardo & Mitchell, William & Muysken, Joan, 2014. "Self determination theory and employed job search," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 34-44.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:44:y:2014:i:c:p:34-44
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2014.06.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joanna Abhayaratna & Les Andrews & Hudan Nuch & Troy Podbury, 2008. "Part Time Employment: the Australian Experience," Staff Working Papers 0805, Productivity Commission, Government of Australia.
    2. William Mitchell & Joan Muysken, 2008. "Full Employment Abandoned," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1188.
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    Cited by:

    1. Adina-Raluca Sibian & Ana Ispas, 2021. "An Approach to Applying the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity Theory to Identify the Driving Factors of Green Employee Behavior in the Hotel Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, April.
    2. Gerards, Ruud & Welters, Ricardo, 2016. "Impact of financial pressure on unemployed job search, job find success and job quality," ROA Research Memorandum 008, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    3. Gerards, Ruud & Welters, Riccardo, 2022. "Job search in the presence of a stressor: Does financial hardship change the effectiveness of job search?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Ernest Emeka Izogo & Chanaka Jayawardhena, 2019. "Building committed online shoppers through shopping goals and switching cost," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(3), pages 127-140, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Personnel attitudes & Job satisfaction; Self determination theory; Motivation; Empirical study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

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