Mission Possible? The Performance of Prosocially Motivated Employees Depends on Manager Trustworthiness

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Grant, Adam M.; Sumanth, John J.
• 署名单位: University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/a0014391
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 927-944
• 关键词: Prosocial motivation; trust; Task significance; performance

摘要

The authors propose that in mission-driven organizations, prosocially motivated employees are more likely to perform effectively when trust cues enhance their perceptions of task significance. The authors develop and test a model linking prosocial motivation, trust cues. task significance, and performance across 3 studies of fundraisers using 3 different objective performance measures. In Study 1. perceiving managers as trustworthy strengthened the relationship between employees' prosocial motivation and performance, measured in terms of calls made. This moderated relationship was mediated by employees' perceptions of task significance. Study 2 replicated the interaction of manager trustworthiness and prosocial motivation in predicting a new measure of performance: dollars raised. It also revealed 3-way interactions between prosocial motivation, manager trustworthiness, and dispositional trust propensity, such that high trust propensity compensated for low manager trustworthiness to strengthen the association between employees' prosocial motivation and performance. Study 3 replicated all of the previous mediation and moderation findings in predicting initiative taken by professional fundraisers. Implications for work motivation, work design, and trust in organizations are discussed.