Michelle Renard

Can non-profit employees’ internal desires to work be quantified? Validating the Intrinsic Work Motivation Scale:

Intrinsic work motivation concerns the execution of work tasks as a result of such activities being deemed inherently interesting, enjoyable, and meaningful by the employee performing them. Such motivation is of particular importance to employees of non-profit organisations, whose motives often stem from altruistic values as opposed to monetary gain. Limited quantitative measuring instruments exist that have been validated and found to be reliable to measure intrinsic work motivation. This exploratory study aimed to develop and validate such a measuring instrument (the Intrinsic Work Motivation Scale) using 486 non-profit responders from Australia, South Africa, and the United States. It made use of reliability testing, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and Pearson’s product moment correlations to achieve this aim. The results indicate that the Intrinsic Work Motivation Scale is reliable and possesses construct, convergent, and discriminant validity. Factor analysis indicated that the Intrinsic Work Motivation Scale comprises three factors, namely, personal connection to one’s work, personal desire to make a difference, and personal desire to perform. Intrinsic motivation was found to correlate positively with work engagement and salary satisfaction and negatively with intention to quit. It is recommended that this instrument be utilised in further studies outside of the non-profit sector, to determine the relevance of intrinsic work motivation within differing employment contexts.

Using the Proactive Coping Inventory to measure Southern African university students’ coping styles

The objective of this study was to examine the various coping styles used by university students in Southern Africa, with a specific focus on proactive coping. It investigated whether demographic variables influence students’ uses of differing coping styles, as well as whether students studying in South Africa make use of the same coping styles compared to those studying in Botswana and Namibia. The Proactive Coping Inventory was completed electronically by 622 students in three universities, one each in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. A small practically significant gender difference occurred for emotional support seeking, and older students were found to employ proactive coping more than younger students. A small practically significant difference was discovered between international and local students’ uses of instrumental support seeking, and university differences were found for reflective coping and two forms of support seeking. Recommendations include developing universities into positive socialising systems so that students are equipped with coping resources.

Exploring the Factor Structure of the Proactive Coping Inventory: A Southern African Study

This study explored the factor structure of the Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI) to determine whether its six-factor structure holds within the Southern African context. Data on proactive coping were collected from students attending three universities, one each in Botswana (n=88, females=45.5%, mean age=21.31 years, SD=2.04), Namibia (n=38, females=47.4%, mean age=24.21 years, SD=3.47) and South Africa (n=496, females=56.9%; mean age=22.27 years, SD=2.60). Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure of the PCI. Findings suggest that the PCI is comprised of two factors: Future-Oriented Coping (comprised of Proactive Coping, Reflective Coping, Strategic Planning and Preventive Coping) and Support Seeking (comprised of Instrumental Support Seeking and Emotional Support Seeking). This is in line with theory that suggests that individuals cope by means of persisting towards goal attainment.

Preventing Compassion Fatigue Amongst Pastors: The Influence of Spiritual Intelligence and Intrinsic Motivation

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether spiritual intelligence and intrinsic motivation can act as antecedents to compassion fatigue. This study will prove useful to pastors who wish to lower the levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress that stem from their work in ministry. The study reviews a sample of 273 South African pastors across four denominations and demonstrates partial support for relationships between spiritual intelligence and intrinsic motivation with not only compassion fatigue, but also its factors of burnout and secondary traumatic stress. The two factors of compassion fatigue do, however, both relate positively to critical existential thinking and negatively with personal meaning production, therefore suggesting that different elements of spiritual intelligence play varying roles in reducing or aggravating compassion fatigue. Burnout can be reduced through increased intrinsic motivation to work in the ministry, and so this study provides recommendations to assist pastors in overcoming compassion fatigue.

Measuring positive, psychological rewards: The validation of the Intrinsic Work Rewards Scale

This study sought to validate the Intrinsic Work Rewards Scale (IWRS) using a transnational sample. Respondents were 486 non-profit employees from Australia, South Africa and the United States of America (females = 72.0%; managerial/ supervisory job level employees = 57.4%). Data analysis included reliability testing, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and concurrent validity testing with established measures to which the IWRS is theoretically linked. The scores from the IWRS obtained an overall acceptable reliability coefficient of 0.86. Factor analysis confirmed its five factor structure, and correlations indicated that intrinsic rewards are positively related to work engagement, and negatively related to intention to quit. The IWRS appears to yield reliable scores for human resource managers advising in the non-profit employment sector.