Abstract
The majority of work organisations equate motivation with money and other extrinsic
rewards, however, Self-Determination Theory (SDT) offers a powerful perspective on how
and why individuals are motivated. This study aimed to apply a variant of the SDT
hypotheses to organisations in Ireland, one private and one public, in order to understand
attitudes to motivation and help direct future action to improve employee performance and
engagement. The results from a mixed-quantitative design showed that Autonomous
Motivation predicted higher Job Satisfaction and Organisation Commitment in both
companies, and greater Well-being in the Private Company. Additionally, Perceived
Autonomy Support was positively related to Autonomous Motivation, Organisation
Commitment and Job Satisfaction. Differences highlighted included higher levels of
Affective and Continuance Commitment in the Public Company; lower Continuance
Commitment among younger employees, and higher Extrinsic Motivation among males. In
conclusion, the study broadly supported the hypotheses and the principles set out in SDT. Author keywords: self-determination theory, work motivation, intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, organisation engagement
