Locus of control, psychological empowerment and intrinsic motivation relation to performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between psychological empowerment and R & D employees’ performance. The moderating effect of locus of control and the mediating effect of intrinsic work motivation are also examined. Design/methodology/approach – The questionnaires were completed by 209 R & D employees and their immediate supervisors of a large foreign-funded R & D institute in China. Hierarchical regression and bias-corrected bootstrap procedures were used to test the hypotheses. Findings – Results demonstrate that psychological empowerment is positively related to R & D employees’ task, contextual and innovation performance. The relationship between psychological empowerment and contextual and innovation performance was found to have been moderated by locus of control. Intrinsic work motivation partially mediates the psychological empowerment-work performance relationship. Research limitations/implications – This is a cross-sectional study, with data limited to a large R & D institute in Shanghai. It did not consider organizational level variables, such as organizational structure and job characteristics. Practical implications – This study highlights the importance of enhancing psychological empowerment and intrinsic work motivation to promote employees’ work performance. Moreover, the results provide evidence in favor of managerial interventions aimed at motivating employees who differ on locus of control. Originality/value – This study extends the psychological empowerment literature by first examining the psychological mechanism through which empowerment affects work performance and how this effect is contingent upon individual locus of control. It also provides insight into motivating R & D employees in Chinese context.