Therelationshipbetweenvolunteerworkandinpidualperformance.
——Wearevolunteers,wearehappy
魏璐
(山东大学管理学院，山东济南250000)
中图分类号：G641文献标识码：A文章编号：1003-2738（2012）02-0331-01
Abstract：Manyinpidualsarevolunteeredtodoactivities，inmylife.Theyareproudofbeingavolunteerandhaveenthusiasmtohelpothers.Theydovolunteeractivitieswithoutcompensationbuttheyarepleasedtodovolunteeractivitiesandhaveabetterperformance.
Keywords:volunteerwork；inpidualperformance；CognitiveEvaluationTheory
Introduction
Inmylife,manyinpidualsarevolunteeredtodoactivities.Theyareproudofbeingavolunteerandhaveenthusiasmtohelpothers.Theydovolunteeractivitieswithoutcompensationbuttheyarepleasedtodovolunteeractivitiesandhaveabetterperformance.Andalmosteveryactivity,whetherbigorsmall,hasvolunteers.Theycleaningspace,guidingpeoplearoundthespace,helppeoplewhoareintroublesorrescuepersonwhoissick.Everyworktheydowithoutcomplaint.Andtheytakeproudofthemselves.
Basisoftheory
Next,IwilltrytoexplainthesephenomenonaccordingtoCognitiveEvaluationTheory[1],whichproposesthattheintroductionofextrinsicrewards,suchaspay,forworkeffortthatwaspreviouslyintrinsicallyrewardingduetothepleasureassociatedwiththecontentoftheworkitselftendstooverallmotivation.CognitionEvaluationTheoryhasbeenextensivelyresearched,andalargenumberofstudieshavesupportedit.Asweallshow,themajorimplicationsofthistheoryrelatetoworkrewards.
Historically,motivationtheoristsgenerallyassumedthatintrinsicrewardssuchasinterestingworkwereindependentofextrinsicrewardssuchashighpay[1].Butcognitiveevaluationtheorysuggestsotherwise.Itarguesthatwhenextrinsicrewardsareusedbyorganizationsaspayoffsforsuperiorperformance,theintrinsicrewards,whicharederivedfrominpidualsdoingwhattheylike,arereduced.Inotherwords,whenextrinsicrewardsaregiventosomeoneforperforminganinterestingtask,itcausesintrinsicinterestinthetaskitselftodecline.Thepopularexplanationofthisoutcomeisthataninpidualexperiencesalossofcontroloverherownbehaviorsothatthepreviousintrinsicmotivationdiminishes.Furthermore,theeliminationofextrinsicrewardscanproduceashift—fromanexternaltoaninternalexplanation—inaninpidual’sperceptionofcausationofwhysheworksonatask[3].Andarecentoutgrowthofthecognitiveevaluationtheoryisself-concordance,whichconsidersthedegreetopeoples’reasonsforpurchasinggoalsareconsistentwiththeirinterestsandcorevalues.Ifinpidualspursuegoalsbecauseofanintrinsicinterest,theyaremorelikelytoattaintheirgoalsandarehappyeveniftheydonotattainthem.Becausetheprocessofstrivingtowardthemisfun.Incontrast,peoplewhopursuegoalsforextrinsicrewards(money,status,orotherbenefits)arelesslikelytoattaintheirgoalsandarelesslikelyandarelesshappyeveniftheydoachievethem.Becausethegoalsarelessmeaningfultothem.
Andthisessayfocusesontherelationshipbetweenthevolunteerworkandtheinpidualperformance.Andmanyelementscanaffectinpidualperformance[4].WhatIsayaboveexplainthatwhymanypeoplearewillingtodojobswithmanyinternalrewards.Becausetheycanattainsatisfactionfromdoingvolunteerworkandhaveapositiveattitudetothiswork.Andwhyattitudecanpromoteinpidualperformance.ThenIwilltalkabouttherelationshipbetweenattitudeandinpidualperformance.Firstly,attitudesareevaluativestatements—eitherfavorableorunfavorable--aboutobjects,people,orevents.Andweviewattitudeasbeingmadeupofthreecomponents—cognition,affect,andbehavior.Inaddition,themajorjobattitudeshelpusunderstandtherelationshipofattitudesandperformancefurthermore.JobattitudesincludesJobSatisfaction,JobInvolvement,PsychologicalEmpowerment,OrganizationalCommitment,PerceivedOrganizationalSupportandEmployeeEngagement.Inpidualswithahighlevelofjobsatisfactionholdspositivefeelingsabouthisorherjob,whileadissatisfiedpersonholdsnegativefeelings.Asforpsychologicalempowerment,itisemployees’beliefsinthedegreetowhichtheyinfluencetheirworkenvironment,theircompetence,themeaningfulnessoftheirjob,andtheperceivedautonomyintheirwork.
Inspireandimplicationformanagersandemployees
Thecognitiveevaluationtheoryisvalid,itshouldhavemajorimplicationsformanagerialpractices.Extrinsicrewardsthatareverbal(forexample,receivingpraisefromasupervisororcoworker)ortangible(forexample,money)canactuallyhavedifferenteffectsoninpiduals’intrinsicmotivation.Thatis,verbalrewardsincreaseintrinsicmotivation,whereastangiblerewardsundermineit.Whenpeoplearetoldtheywillreceiveatangiblereward,theycometocountonitandfocusmoreontherewardthanonthetask.Verbalrewards,however,seemtokeeppeoplefocusedonthetaskandencouragethemtodoitbetter.Asformanagers,theyshouldgivemoreverbalextrinsicrewardstoemployees.Managersneedtoprovideintrinsicrewardsinadditiontoextrinsicincentives.Inotherwords,managersneedtomaketheworkinteresting,providerecognition,andsupportemployeegrowthanddevelopment.Employeeswhofeelthatwhattheydoiswithintheircontrolandasaresultoffreechoiceandlikelytobemoremotivatedbytheirworkandcommittedtotheiremployees.Inthiswayemployeescanperformbetterandareloyaltothisorganization.Asforemployees,weshouldchoosejobscarefully.Makesurewearechoosingtodosomethingforreasonsotherthanextrinsicrewards.Maybesomeonechoosejobswithhighcompensation.Otherschoosejobswithgoodworkenvironment.However,volunteerslovetodovolunteerjobbecausevolunteerworkitself.Volunteerworkcanbringsatisfactionandachievementtovolunteers.
Andtilltothis,Ifinishmyessayabouttherelationshipbetweenvolunteerworkandinpidualperformance.
References：
[1]《BehavioralandSocialCognitiveApproaches》JesseEspinozaYulinaCorderoOctober21,2010.
[2]《Criteriaandevaluationofcognitivetheories》Gelepithis,PetrosAM2003.
[3]《Stumpf'sCognitive-EvaluativeTheoryofEmotion》RainerReisenzeinandWolfgangSchnpflug1992.
[4]《Implicittheoriesandevaluativeprocessesinpersoncognition》Chiu,Chi-yue;Dweck,CarolS.1997.