The Study of Compensation Systems Through the Lens of Self-Determination Theory: Reconciling 35 Years of Debate

Jacques Forest and Marylène Gagné

CIRANO Working Papers from CIRANO

Abstract: Although compensation specialists generally argue for incentive systems that link rewards to performance, self-determination theory argues that such contingent rewards can have detrimental effects on autonomous motivation. The authors present a model of the motivational effects of compensation systems that attempts to reconcile the self-determination theory view and the literature on compensation. This model evaluates how compensation system characteristics, such as the amount and variability of pay, can influence the satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which in turn influence autonomous work motivation. Si les spécialistes en rémunération sont généralement en faveur des systèmes de primes qui lient la récompense à la performance, la théorie de l'autodétermination, quant à elle, suggère que de telles récompenses contingentes peuvent nuire à la motivation autonome. Nous présentons un modèle des effets motivationnels engendrés par les systèmes de rémunération qui tente de faire concorder la théorie de l'autodétermination avec la documentation sur la rémunération. Ce modèle évalue de quelle façon les caractéristiques des systèmes de rémunération, tels les variations de la rémunération et son niveau, peuvent influer sur la satisfaction du besoin d'autonomie, la compétence et le rapprochement, lesquels peuvent, à leur tour, marquer la motivation autonome au travail.

Keywords: self-determination theory; compensation; rewards; incentives; organizational justice.; théorie de l'autodétermination; compensation; récompenses; mesures incitatives; justice organisationnelle. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-08-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-hrm and nep-lab
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://cirano.qc.ca/files/publications/2011s-54.pdf

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cir:cirwor:2011s-54

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CIRANO Working Papers from CIRANO Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Webmaster ().