Effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on task and contextual performance of Pakistani professionals : The mediating role of commitment foci

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine underlying linkages between employees’ intrinsic/extrinsic motivation and their task/contextual performance in a Pakistani health care and educational context. Employees’ affective occupational and organizational commitments were proposed as mediators to explain these relationships. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 181 doctors from a Pakistani hospital and 135 academics from a Pakistani university and analyzed using Baron and Kenney (1986) approach and Preacher and Hayes (2008) bootstrapping approach for testing multiple mediators simultaneously. Findings – As expected, intrinsic motivation is related to task performance (TP) and this relationship is mediated by affective occupational commitment. Extrinsic motivation is related both to TP and contextual performance (CP) and these relationships are mediated by affective organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications – Research has implications both for practitioners and academicians. The results highlight how different motivational orientations can produce different results and managers need to understand the different needs of employees while devising their human resource strategies. Employees can differ in their motivational orientations depending on their level of need, and can accordingly differ in their subsequent attitudes, performance and behaviors. Employees also need to choose jobs carefully after evaluating their motivational orientations. Originality/value – The current study recognizes the multi-dimensional nature of motivation and differentiates the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations of employees by establishing the unique linkages between these orientations and employee task and CP. The study also examines differential role of two foci of employee commitment in analyzing the main effects.