Examining the Relationship Between Self-Determination Theory's Basic Needs Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Poster 34

Quality of relationships in the workplace impacts employee motivation and output such as task completion, effectiveness, cooperation, and overall engagement with one’s work. This is also applicable to athletes. The primary... [ view full abstract ]

Quality of relationships in the workplace impacts employee motivation and output such as task completion, effectiveness, cooperation, and overall engagement with one’s work. This is also applicable to athletes. The primary focus for this study is the connection between feelings of connection to coworkers (teammates) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Successful organizational citizens willingly assist coworkers and supervisors in meeting goals. They devote extra effort to their causes and are strong team players. 

This may be tied to intrinsic motivation. Employees (and athletes) report being intrinsically motivated when their basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met (Deci & Ryan, 1985). In this research process, we explored the relationship between psychological need fulfillment (as defined by Self-Determination Theory) and OCB. Our participants were 107 student athletes at Middlebury College who completed an anonymous survey as part of a larger research project conducted in the spring of 2016. Our hypothesis is that higher rates of basic psychological need fulfillment (as defined by Self-Determination Theory) - particularly relatedness - would be directly correlated with organizational citizenship behavior.  Implications of our findings for athletes and employees will be addressed.