Don’t Tell Them to be Cooperative; Show Them the Organization is Cooperative

Abstract

Motivation remains a crucial issue for management and organizational research. Based on Joint Production and Goal-Framing Theory, we delineate three goal-framing mindsets (cooperative, self-enrichment, and self-enjoyment). Based on this, we deployed a measurement instrument that quantifies the relative salience of a mindset in two different studies. Our instrument reliably captured individuals’ perceptions across mindsets in both samples, and the correlation structure among measurements confirms theoretical expectations. Measures of self-enrichment and self-enjoyment are positively correlated, whereas there is a tradeoff between motivation anchored in self-enrichment and a cooperative mindset. Subjects perceived themselves as highly cooperative in both studies. Further, participants in the first (online) study rated peers and leaders as higher in self-enjoyment and self-enrichment mindsets, respectively, related to comparison and attribution effects. Finally, we analyze additional correlations with participants’ characteristics and discuss recommendations for practitioners and avenues for future research.

Keywords: Motivation, Cooperation, Goal-framing, Human Resource Management, Measurement