Autonomous motivational regulation as a resource for subjective professional well-being

Emelyanenko Bogdan Olegovich Graduate student, Department of General and Pedagogical Psychology, National Research Tomsk State University 634050, Russia, Tomsk region, Tomsk, Moskovsky Trakt str., 8 bogdan_eme@mail.ru

Shvedenko Yuliya Viktorovna Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Sociology of Management, Altai Branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration 656008, Russia, Altai Territory, Barnaul, Partizanskaya str., 187 shvedenko-yv@ranepa.ru

Introduction

The problem of the formation of professional well-being is one of the leading ones in modern organizational psychology, positive psychology, as well as in HR management. It is important for an employee to feel well–being in their professional activities, since work is the most important component of their entire life, which makes a significant contribution to the overall psychological well-being of the individual. A sense of professional well-being is a condition for professional health and career longevity ^[1], and also allows an employee to realize their potential ^[2]. In the case of professional distress, the employee's quality of decisions decreases ^[3], social cynicism develops ^[4], and he himself may experience burnout ^[5] and boredom ^[6].

From the point of view of the organization, a high level of professional well-being of employees contributes to involvement in work ^[5], reducing staff turnover ^[3]. In addition, organizations that care about the well-being of staff create an attractive image, which provides a competitive advantage when hiring new employees.

Since the concept of "professional well-being" "covers not only the subjective side of human well-being in the professional sphere, which is studied by psychology, but also health indicators, protection from occupational injuries, decent financial remuneration and other non-psychological characteristics" [1. p. 249], we will use the term "subjective professional well-being", proposed by A. A. Oboznov, D. L. Petrovich and others. ^{[1; 7; 8; 9]}. By doing this, we emphasize that we are exploring the psychological aspect of professional well-being.

One of the relevant directions in the study of professional well-being is the search for those factors that contribute to its achievement ^[3]. Some of these factors can be called resources.

According to D. A. Leontiev, resources are "means, the availability and sufficiency of which contributes to achieving goals and maintaining well–being, and the absence or insufficiency makes it difficult" ^{[10, p. 22]}. Among personal (psychological) resources, D. A. Leontiev identifies sustainability resources, self-regulation resources, motivational resources and instrumental resources ^[10]. Thus, some forms of motivation can be considered as personal resources. In particular, "internal motivational orientation as a stable personal disposition" ^{[11, p. 88]}.

This form of motivation is highlighted in the theory of self-determination by E. Desi and R. Ryan ^[12], the leading research approach in the field of professional motivation ^[13]. The specific motivation of a particular person can be described through three components: subject orientation (for what?), intensity (how much?) and quality (why we do this or that activity) ^[14]. In this theory, a special role is given to the quality of motivation.

The primary types of motivation: internal, integrated, identified, as well as introjected, external, and amotivation, which are described in detail in the Russian literature ^{[14, 15, 16]} are combined within the framework of autonomous motivation (the first three) and controlled motivation (the second three) ^[15]. With autonomous motivation, self-regulation prevails in the employee, that is, the work corresponds to his values, interests and beliefs. The activities performed are consistent with subjectively set goals, which contributes to positive emotions at work. With controlled motivational regulation, an employee is driven by factors external to the activity performed, such as punishment or reward. The work, as such, does not arouse interest.

It is known that "autonomous motivation acts as a stable predictor of employees' perseverance in relation to their activities, their emotional well-being in the workplace, it contributes to the adoption of organizational changes. Controlled motivation is associated with emotional exhaustion, burnout, and a low level of commitment to the organization" [Cit. according to: 17, p. 152].

Closely related to the theory of self-determination in the study of motivation is the concept of passion proposed by R. Vallerand ^[18]. Passion is understood as "a strong propensity for activities that people like and correspond to their identity, which they consider important and in which they invest time and energy" ^{[18, p. 756]}. A person experiencing passion feels a deep connection between the activity performed and himself, and among such few activities may be work.

Thus, subjective professional well-being is an important component of the overall psychological well-being of an individual, and a high level of subjective well-being in professional activity is important both for the personality of an employee and for the organization in which he works. Professional motivation, characterized by focus, intensity and quality, is an essential factor in the formation of subjective professional well-being. Modern motivation research is more focused on analyzing the role of qualitative characteristics of motivation, which are generally presented in such forms as autonomous and controlled.

Further, the autonomous and controlled forms of professional motivation of employees as predictors of subjective professional well-being will be concretized and meaningfully disclosed. Ideas about this phenomenon will also be expanded by considering the experiences of a person in professional activity as a "primary stage" in the formation of subjective professional well-being.

The aim of the study was to identify the influence of autonomous and controlled forms of professional motivation on the indicators of subjective professional well-being of employees of industrial organizations. Over the past 3-6 years, Russian psychologists have made significant progress both in developing concepts of professional well-being and in tools for measuring it. Nevertheless, the number of studies in the Russian sample, taking into account the domestic understanding of the criteria of subjective professional well-being on the topic we are developing, is not enough.

The object of the study: subjective professional well-being.

The subject of the study is to assess the impact of autonomous and controlled forms of professional motivation on the characteristics of subjective professional well-being of employees of industrial enterprises.

The hypothesis of the study was that autonomous professional motivational regulation would promote a sense of well-being in professional activity, while controlled regulation would hinder it.

Research methodology

77 employees of two production organizations in Barnaul took part in the study. The sample included 42 women and 35 men, aged 19 to 69 years (M = 41.0; SD = 11.8 years). 48 respondents held positions of workers directly involved in the production of material products, and 29 held positions of employees engaged in various fields of intellectual work. The questionnaire stated that the study was conducted by an independent research group.

The diagnostic package included 6 techniques.

1. The methodology for assessing professional well-being (MOPB) by E. I. Ruth and L. I. Augustova ^[19]. This questionnaire is a symmetrical modification of K. Riff's methodology of psychological well-being in the adaptation of L. V. Zhukovskaya and E. G. Troshikhina, but applied to professional activity. The toolkit consists of 36 statements and evaluates professional well-being on 4 scales, 2 of which have subscales: autonomy in professional activity; positive relationships in the team, professional self-acceptance (satisfaction with the level of competence and satisfaction with professional achievements), professional development (professional growth and professional goals). The summation of points on 4 scales form a general indicator of professional well-being.

2. The methodology of diagnosing experiences in professional activity (DPD) by E. N. Osin and D. A. Leontiev ^[20]. The methodology includes 12 statements that form four scales: pleasure, meaning, effort and emptiness. The combination of pleasure, meaning, and effort forms a truly optimal experience, and the absence of these three components creates emptiness. If "experience is always relevant, always in the present" ^{[20, p. 32]}, then a sense of professional well-being, being a more stable characteristic, implies an assessment of non-situational factors. Nevertheless, we believe that when living optimal experiences at work, an employee feels well-being "here and now", and based on the experience of experiences, subjective professional well-being/disadvantage is formed.

3. Questionnaire of professional motivation (OPM-2) by E. N. Osina, A. A. Gorbunova, T. O. Gordeeva, T. Y. Ivanova, N. V. Kosheleva, E. Y. Ovchinnikova (Mandrikova) ^[15]. The methodology contains 20 points and measures the severity of each of the types of motivation proposed in the theory of self-determination by E. Desi and R. Ryan: internal motivation, integrated motivation, identified motivation, introjected motivation, external motivation and amotivation. The primary scales are grouped into two secondary ones: autonomous motivation (the first three scales) and controlled motivation (the second three scales), and the difference between the first and the second forms an index of relative autonomy.

4. The scale of passion by R. Vallerand in the adaptation by A. A. Zolotareva, L. A. Marchuk, A. A. Lebedeva, A. H. Pham, A.V. Yarkin ^[21]. The technique consists of 14 statements and diagnoses two types of passion – harmonious and obsessive. Harmonious passion refers to autonomous internalization ^[21], when a person performs activities that fascinate him and correspond to his desires and values, and at the same time there is a balance in other important aspects of human life. Obsessive passion correlates with controlled motivation ^[21], that is, activity attracts a person, but at the same time he experiences some kind of overwhelming urge or dependence on it, which damages other areas of life. The combination of indicators on the scales form a common indicator of passion. In accordance with the objectives of our research, all the points have been modified in relation to the professional environment.

5. The methodology for determining the motivation of K. Zamfir's professional activity in the modification of A. A. Rean. The questionnaire consists of 7 items and allows you to find out how much the respondent is driven by internal motivation, external positive motivation and external negative motivation in his professional activity.

6. Satisfaction scale of basic psychological needs at work E. N. Osina, D. D. Suchkova, T. O. Gordeeva, T. Y. Ivanova ^[22]. The methodology contains 21 statements and evaluates the degree of satisfaction of each of the three basic psychological needs identified in the theory of self-determination, in relation to the working environment: autonomy, competence and connectedness with other people.

The questionnaires were presented to employees in electronic format through the Google Forms service, as well as in printed form. The SPSS Statistics 26 program was used for data processing. Descriptive statistics, the Shapiro-Wilk Criterion, Spearman correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis were used.

The results of the study

We did not use all scales of methods, but only those that meet the purpose of the study. First of all, we used descriptive statistics and tested the normality of the distribution using the Shapiro-Wilk criterion (Table 1).

Table 1 - Descriptive statistics and verification of the normality of the distribution of indicators of subjective professional well-being, experiences in professional activity, motivational regulation in professional activity and satisfaction of basic psychological needs at work

Based on Table 1, it was decided to use nonparametric criteria in the future.

Next, the consistency between the methodology for assessing the professional well-being of E. I. Ruth and L. I. Augustova and the questionnaire for diagnosing experiences in professional activity of E. N. Osin and D. A. Leontiev was checked using the Spearman correlation coefficient (Table 2).

Table 2 - Correlations between the components of subjective professional well-being and experiences in professional activity

Note: Here and further, Spearman's correlation coefficients at p < 0.05 are indicated in regular font, at p < 0.01 – in bold, statistically unreliable correlations are absent in the table.

The methods have shown many reliable correlations, which confirms the connection between experiences and subjective professional well-being.

We also assessed the coherence of methods evaluating motivational regulation in professional activity using the Spearman correlation coefficient (Table 3).

Table 3 - Correlations between scales of methods evaluating motivational regulation in professional activity

The methods showed satisfactory consistency. No results contrary to theoretical expectations have been identified.

Next, we investigated the influence of autonomous and controlled forms of professional motivation on indicators of subjective professional well-being. To do this, we used multiple regression analysis. The following scales of the MOPB questionnaire by E. I. Ruth and L. I. Augustova were used as indicators of professional well-being: "autonomy in professional activity", "professional self-acceptance", "professional development", "positive relationships in the team" "professional well-being (general indicator)". From the DPD methodology of E. N. Osin and D. A. Leontiev, we used all the variables: "pleasure", "meaning", "effort", "emptiness".

The scales "autonomous motivation" and "controlled motivation" from the OPM-2 methodology were used as predictors; the scales "harmonious passion" and "obsessive passion" of the Passion scale; all scales of the Zamfir methodology. Since professional motivation questionnaires measure a similar manifestation of motivation (its quality), for better results (avoiding multicollinearity), we have built separate models for each component of subjective professional well-being and for each component of experience, where the scales of only one of the methods of professional motivation were predictors (Tables 4 and 5).

Table 4. Types of motivational regulation as predictors of components of subjective professional well-being

Note. Here and further, significant predictors are highlighted in bold. The values of insignificant predictors are not presented.

Table 5. Types of motivational regulation as predictors of experiences in professional activity

The next step of the study was to test the theoretical basis of the theory of self-determination on the importance of satisfying basic psychological needs in strengthening autonomous motivation (Table 6).

Table 6. Correlations between the three basic psychological needs and types of motivation identified in the theory of self-determination

According to the theory of self-determination, people will act based on autonomous motivation only when their basic needs are autonomy (the perception that a person is the source of their own behavior), competence (a sense of effectiveness in interacting with the social environment, the opportunity to show their abilities) and connectedness (a sense of connection with others, caring for others and caring for a person from others, as well as a sense of belonging to both individuals and a community) will be satisfied ^[23]. This position was confirmed in our sample. It should be noted that the relationship between basic psychological needs and motivation is precisely correlational and does not imply the building of rigid cause-and-effect relationships. "Internally motivated activities provide a higher chance of meeting basic needs… On the other hand, environmental factors contributing to the satisfaction of basic needs ... facilitate the internalization of extrinsic motivation and contribute to the maintenance of intrinsic motivation" ^{[15, p. 23]}.

Discussion of the results

The results obtained allow us to assert that an autonomous form of professional motivation is a positive predictor of subjective professional well–being, and a controlled one, on the contrary, is a negative one.

Thus, the parameters of professional motivation of different methods predicted almost all the components of professional well-being identified by E. I. Ruth and L. I. Augustova, as well as the components of experiences from the D. A. Leontiev model, except for the "Effort" scale. But this scale did not show any relationship with the MOPB questionnaire. An effort involving energy expenditure and the occurrence of tension cannot in itself be considered an indicator of subjective professional well-being, but only as a component of optimal experience. "Effort ... without meaning and pleasure is associated with negative emotions" ^{[20, p. 43]}.

Thus, autonomous motivational regulation in professional activity, based on the belief about the importance of work for personal development, provided that the work corresponds to personal values and interests, as well as the ability to achieve subjectively important goals, is a resource for achieving well-being in the workplace. This is how an autonomously motivated employee intelligently approaches the performance of work tasks, and more often feels pleasure when performing them. This helps to achieve your goals, which contributes to living optimal experiences. On this basis, the employee gets the feeling that he is in his place (professional self-acceptance) and is ready to achieve other tasks (professional development).

If a person is driven by external factors in his professional activity, for example, the fear of being left without means of subsistence, being punished, or it does not matter where he works at all, which can be called controlled motivational regulation in professional activity, then, according to the data obtained in the study, this prevents the achievement of subjective professional well-being. Such an employee often experiences emptiness, which means that he does not see the meaning in his actions, does not feel positive emotions and does not make any efforts. This creates a feeling of incompetence, rejection of one's professional role and leads to professional stagnation. In this case, colleagues may not be perceived as assistants, but rather as a burden in a professional environment.

The results on "Obsessive Passion" require clarification. With its predominance, it is difficult to unequivocally assert whether a person is autonomously or controllably motivated. If an employee experiences passion, then this already implies a strong connection between the person and the activity being performed, which is the most important sign of autonomous motivation. But unlike harmonious passion, when possessed, a person is so immersed in work that control over the activity is lost. It is not the employee who controls it, but the activity of the employee, and this is already a sign of controlled motivation. When testing the Passion Scale, obsessive passion acted as a positive predictor of both autonomous and controlled motivation, while harmonious passion acted as a positive autonomous and negative controlled motivation ^[21]. In our study, obsessive passion turned out to be associated with autonomous and unrelated controlled motivation, and very poorly predicted the components of well-being in professional activity. At the same time, harmonious passion predicted all components of well-being except "Effort".

Returning to the main conclusion of the work, we note that our results are consistent with the data obtained by other scientists. Thus, in a meta-analysis containing data from 44 empirical studies, it is reported that autonomous forms of professional motivation (internal, integrated, identified) are steadily interrelated with well-being in professional activity, despite the fact that well-being was operationalized through a total of 13 different indicators ^[24]. Controlled motivation either did not show a connection with professional well-being, or even led to trouble.

Nevertheless, at some points, controlled motivation increases productivity, helping to achieve the goal, and therefore can also be considered as a resource. This applies to those cases when it gives an additional powerful impetus to the completion of tasks. But in the long run, it still leads to a decrease in the employee's well-being ^[25].

As noted above, the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and connection with other people is the main one for the formation of autonomous motivational regulation. There are many mechanisms in professional activity, the correct organization of which will contribute to meeting these needs. Thus, in ^[26] it is proposed to pay attention to three aspects of the working environment: the way work is organized; the quality of interpersonal relationships and leadership; the existing remuneration system.

The organization of work should include a variety of tasks that an employee is engaged in; achieving goals that are important to the organization; providing timely, objective and clear feedback. Employees should be aware of how their work contributes to achieving the goals of the organization. There should also be autonomy in the work, when an employee can independently make decisions and control his work.

The authors note the positive importance of transformational and authentic leadership on the part of management as an important factor in meeting basic psychological needs. These leadership styles are based on regular interaction between employees and management, which allows you to provide timely support to employees, and ultimately mutual trust and respect are formed. But at the same time, constant monitoring is harmful because it hinders employee autonomy and a sense of competence. Public negative feedback and humiliation also block satisfaction of needs and create an unfavorable ground for autonomous regulation.

For our part, we note that joint events where employees share experiences, relax or solve problems, as well as participation in social and charitable projects will help meet needs, primarily in connectivity.

There is an interesting nuance within the framework of the reward system. Satisfaction of psychological needs does not directly depend on the amount of salary. "Rewards can undermine internal motivation and form controlled motivation" ^{[15, p. 24]}. So in organizations where pay depends on achievements, an employee can focus solely on results without enjoying the work process. Therefore, rewards should, if possible, not be directly related to the results achieved. But at the same time, it is important that employees feel fair in the matter of payment distribution.

Further research on this topic can be based on a multidimensional approach that assumes "the qualitative originality of certain types of motivational regulation" ^{[16, p. 127]}, that is, it is necessary to answer the question in which specific circumstances internal, integrated, identified and other forms of motivational regulation form subjective professional well-being.

Main results and conclusions

1. The experiences experienced by employees in the process of completing work tasks are the basis of subjective professional well-being. Based on "momentary" experiences of pleasure, meaning, effort, or emptiness, a general sense of well-being/disadvantage in the profession is formed.

2. Autonomous motivational regulation is a positive predictor of indicators of subjective professional well–being, and controlled motivation is a negative one.

3. There are a large number of ways to organize work that can satisfy three basic psychological needs, and as a result, create a sense of subjective professional well-being among employees.

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