Job Satisfaction and Commitment Among Turkish Humanitarian Aid Workers: The Role of Expectancy-Value and Motivation

Abstract

What are the reasons for which people contribute to humanitarian aid agencies? And what makes them more motivated? In this cross-sectional study, we relied on self-determination and situated expectancy-value theory to examine in an integrated model the degree to which expectancy for success, utility value, and perceived psychological cost predict self-determined motivation and, in turn, job satisfaction and commitment among humanitarian aid workers in Turkey. Path analyses with N = 147 Turkish employees (Mage = 27.49, SD = 9.85 years; 66.7% females) in humanitarian aid agencies showed that job satisfaction related to autonomous motivation, which was predicted by both utility value and expectancy for success. In contrast, controlled motivation failed to associate either with job satisfaction or commitment, while it was predicted positively by utility value and negatively by psychological cost. Amotivation emerged as a negative predictor of commitment and was predicted negatively by expectancy for success and positively by psychological cost. These results highlight the positive role of autonomous motivation, the negative role of cost, and the double function that utility value may serve. Practical implications for these findings are discussed.