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Autonomy support and prosocial impact facilitate meaningful work: A daily diary study
Liang Meng1,2,3, Xinyue Lin2,3, Juan Du2
1Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence for Information Behavior, Shanghai, China.
Motivation and Emotion
|June 26, 2023
Summary
Daily perceived autonomy support and prosocial impact enhance meaningful work for nurses. Individual orientations moderate these effects, highlighting dynamic workplace factors influencing job engagement and satisfaction.
Area of Science:
- Organizational Psychology
- Workplace Dynamics
- Employee Well-being
Background:
- Meaningful work is crucial for employee engagement and satisfaction.
- Understanding within-person fluctuations in meaningful work is essential.
- Self- and other-oriented dimensions influence meaningful work pathways.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the effects of daily perceived autonomy support and prosocial impact on meaningful work.
- To investigate the mediating role of meaningful work in the relationship between antecedents and work engagement.
- To explore the moderating roles of prosocial and autonomy orientations.
Main Methods:
- A 10-day daily diary study involving 86 nurses across multiple hospitals.
- Multilevel modeling was employed to analyze the data (860 occasions).
- Examined day-level perceptions and individual orientations.
Main Results:
- Perceived autonomy support and prosocial impact positively predicted meaningful work.
- Meaningful work mediated the relationship between these factors and work engagement.
- Prosocial orientation strengthened the impact of prosociality; autonomy orientation had a complex effect.
Conclusions:
- Meaningful work is transient and dynamic, influenced by daily experiences.
- Managerial practices supporting autonomy and prosocial impact can foster meaningful work.
- Distinguishing between types of autonomy orientation is necessary for effective management.
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