Because we like what we do,

We do it together and because we want to,

And because we know why we do it…

Emergence of self-organizing potential:

The Relationship between Appreciative Inquiry

and Autonomous Motivation

explained by Basic Psychological Needs

Jitka Meijer MSc

Appreciation & Connecting:App & Con at Work Scale

‘For wisdom is

not to be found

between the ears,

but between de noses.’Jan Somers

Autonomous

motivation

Autonomy

Competence

Relatedness

Motivation at Work Scale (Gagné et. al, 2012)

Work Related Basic Need Satisfaction Scale (Van den Broeck et. al, 2010)

Method: questionnaire

- 140 men, 196 women

- Non AI (N = 107); 1 org.; AI (N = 209); 4 org.

Hypothesis 1.2 & 1.3: there is a positive relationship between appreciation,

connecting and the autonomous motivation of the employees.

Hypothesis 2.1 & 2.2: there is a positive relationship between perceived

appreciation, connecting and the satisfaction of the needs for competence,

autonomy and connectedness.

Hypothesis 3.1 & 3.2: the relationship between the perceived appreciation,

connecting and the autonomous motivation is mediated by satisfaction of the

needs for competence, autonomy and connectedness.

Model & Hypothesis

Autonomy

Competence

Relatedness

Connecting

Appreciation

AutonomousMotivation

Results & Conclusions

Autonomy

Competence

Relatedness

Connecting

Appreciation

AutonomousMotivation

- Satisfaction of all three needs is important for optimal functioning (Van den

Broeck et al., 2009).

- Possible mediation by nurturing talent (Buckingham, 2005)?

- Research has implications for the role of managers and leaders.

- In order to unlock self-organizing potential attention for two processes is

needed: differentiation of the individual strength and then cohesion

(Holman, 2010).

- Interventions are not comparable, with one measurement no causal links.

- Follow-up Research.

.16

.20

.54.28

.16

.15

.21

.34

.41

‘If we can only create a collective sense of what needs to be achieved,

create new models or theories of how to achieve that, and align those with

the inherent motivation people have in relation to their organizational life,

then a great deal of change leading to increased organizational

performance can occur if people are allowed and encouraged to take

initiative and make it happen.‘ (Bushe & Kassam, 2005)