An Examination of the Relationships between Psychological Climate and a VIE Model for Work Motivation.

Abstract : The study explored relationships between psychological climate and components of a valence-instrumentality-expectancy (VIE) model. Data were obtained from 504 managerial employees of a large health care company. A principal component analysis of responses to thirty-five composites representing first order abstractions of perceived climate yielded six components. Similar analyses were conducted separately for twenty valence items and for twenty instrumentalities. Considerable similarity was found among the instrumentality and valence components, with one component in each area representing intrinsic outcomes, one component representing organizationally-mediated extrinsic outcomes, one representing negative or neutral outcomes, and one representing leader and workgroup-mediated extrinsic outcomes. Relationships among psychological climate and valence-instrumentality-expectancy components were significant and supported several hypotheses proposed in the literature.