On the Mediational Role of Feelings of Self-Determination in the Workplace: Further Evidence and Generalization

The goals of this study were to extend and to verify the generalizability of Deci et al.'s (1989) results, and to test the validity of a preliminary quality of worklife model in which feelings of self-determination play a key mediational role. This model states that informational and controlling work environments will impact in opposite ways on feelings of self-determination. These feelings should then trigger positive impacts on global work satisfaction and work interest. These two latter variables, in turn, are postulated to impact directly on organizational behaviors and general health variables. Subjects were 184 full-time French Canadian employees from different work settings. They were randomly assigned to one of two versions of a questionnaire assessing the different constructs of the model. Two samples were created to cross-validate results and to test the model with two different loci of perceived informational and controlling work environments. In sample 1, subjects assessed their perceptions of their immediate supervisor's styles whereas in sample 2, subjects assessed their perceptions of the global work climate. Results from correlational and path analyses confirmed the predicted relationships between perceptions of informational/controlling environments, feelings of self-determination and the quality of worklife. The expected mediational role of feelings of self-determination as well as of work satisfaction and interest in explaining proximal impacts (i.e., self-perceptions of voluntary absenteeism, distraction at work, and intentions to change job) as well as more distal impacts (i.e., self-perceptions of mental and physical health, cigarette, and alcohol use) was confirmed across samples. Les objectifs de cette etude visaient a verifier la generalisation des resultats de Deci et al. (1989) et a evaluer la validite d'un modele preliminaire de qualite de vie au travail dans lequel les sentiments d'autodetermination jouent un role important en tant que mediateurs. Ce modele stipule que les environnements de travail informationnel et controlant auront des impacts opposes sur les sentiments d'autodetermination. Ces sentiments devraient par la suite influencer directement des comportements organisationnels et des variables de sante de l'employe. 184 employes canadiens francophones provenant de differentes organisations ont repondu a l'une des deux versions d'un questionnaire assigne aleatoirement. Les deux echantillons servaient a evaluer le modele en utilisant deux perspectives d'environnement de travail : informationnel et controlant. Dans l'echantillon 1, les employes evaluaient le style du superieur immediat alors que dans l'echantillon 2, les sujets evaluaient le climat global de travail. Les resultats d'analyses correlationnelles et des pistes causales ont confirme les liens postules entre les perceptions d'environnement de travail informationnel/controlant, les sentiments d'autodetermination et la qualite de vie au travail. Les sentiments d'autodetermination ainsi que la satisfaction et l'interet au travail jouaient un role de mediateur afin de predire des impacts proximaux (perceptions d'absenteisme volontaire, distraction au travail et intentions de quitter son travail) de meme que des impacts plus distaux ( perception de problemes de sante physique et mental, consommation de tabac et d'alcool). Ces resultats etaient confirmes dans les deux echantillons.