Whose autonomy support is more effective? Managers' or Co-Workers’? An experimental comparison of source and occupational context on intrinsic motivation

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to experimentally test whether support from different sources would lead to increased intrinsic work motivation and to examine whether occupational context moderated this effect. In Study 1, we manipulated autonomy support, source of behaviour, and occupational context. In Study 2, we allocated participants to a conventional or social work context depending on their real occupation to increase ecological validity. Altogether, 495 workers participated. We found a main effect for autonomy support, and that managers' autonomy support was more effective in a conventional occupational context, whereas co-workers’ autonomy support was more effective in the social occupational context. Findings highlight the importance of having both autonomy-supportive managers and co-workers for workers' intrinsic motivation.