Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems ( PACIS ) July 2008 MOTIVATIONS FOR PARTICIPATING IN OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE COMMUNITIES : ROLES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS AND ALTRUISM

As a new phenomenon of the software industry, Open Source Software (OSS) development has attracted many research interests. Examining what motivate participants to be involved in OSS projects is one of the recently heated research areas. This study is motivated by the significance but lacking evidence on how personality traits may affect participants’ task effort on OSS projects. In particular, we investigate how personality traits namely psychological needs for autonomy and competence, and one’s altruism interact with motivations. Following Self-Determination Theory, we differentiate different types of. In addition, drawing upon the Affective Event theory, we submit that personality traits moderate the relationships between task effort and both external and identified motivations. The research model is largely supported by data from 204 participants in various OSS projects. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

[1]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment to the Organization: An Examination of Construct Validity , 1996, Journal of vocational behavior.

[2]  John W. Atkinson,et al.  Introduction: Motivation , 1964 .

[3]  Sandra Slaughter,et al.  Understanding the Motivations, Participation, and Performance of Open Source Software Developers: A Longitudinal Study of the Apache Projects , 2006, Manag. Sci..

[4]  Edward L. Deci,et al.  Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior , 1975, Perspectives in Social Psychology.

[5]  Georg von Krogh,et al.  The Promise of Research on Open Source Software , 2006, Manag. Sci..

[6]  E. A. Locke,et al.  What Should we do About Motivation Theory? Six Recommendations for the Twenty-First Century , 2004 .

[7]  Brent A. Scott,et al.  The Interactive Effects of Personal Traits and Experienced States on Intraindividual Patterns of Citizenship Behavior , 2006 .

[8]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[9]  George Kuk,et al.  Strategic Interaction and Knowledge Sharing in the KDE Developer Mailing List , 2006, Manag. Sci..

[10]  J. Hair Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .

[11]  H. Weiss,et al.  Affective Events Theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. , 1996 .

[12]  J. Tirole,et al.  Some Simple Economics of Open Source , 2002 .

[13]  Edward L. Deci,et al.  Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination , 2004 .

[14]  Wynne W. Chin The partial least squares approach for structural equation modeling. , 1998 .

[15]  Terry S. Overton,et al.  Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys , 1977 .

[16]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[17]  E. Deci,et al.  The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior , 2000 .

[18]  Robert E. Cole,et al.  From a Firm-Based to a Community-Based Model of Knowledge Creation: The Case of the Linux Kernel Development , 2003, Organ. Sci..

[19]  Guido Hertel,et al.  Motivation of software developers in Open Source projects: an Internet-based survey of contributors to the Linux kernel , 2003 .

[20]  Alexander Hars,et al.  Working for free? Motivations of participating in open source projects , 2001, Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[21]  Gillian B. Yeo,et al.  A multilevel analysis of effort, practice, and performance: effects; of ability, conscientiousness, and goal orientation. , 2004, The Journal of applied psychology.

[22]  Ping Zhang,et al.  Motivations in OSS Communities: The Mediating Role of Effort Intensity and Goal Commitment , 2009 .

[23]  Henry L. Tosi A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance , 1991 .

[24]  V. Vroom Work and motivation , 1964 .

[25]  R. Kanfer Motivation theory and industrial and organizational psychology. , 1990 .

[26]  David Gefen,et al.  Customer Loyalty in E-Commerce , 2002, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[27]  M. Konovsky,et al.  Citizenship behavior and social exchange. , 1994, Academy of Management journal. Academy of Management.

[28]  Eric von Hippel,et al.  Satisfying Heterogeneous User Needs Via Innovation Toolkits: The Case of Apache Security Software , 2002 .

[29]  R. B. Heisch How, what and why. , 1963, East African medical journal.

[30]  Debra L. Shapiro,et al.  Introduction to special topic forum: The future of work motivation theory. , 2004 .

[31]  K. Jöreskog,et al.  Intraclass Reliability Estimates: Testing Structural Assumptions , 1974 .

[32]  T. M. Amabile,et al.  The Work Preference Inventory: assessing intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations. , 1994, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[33]  J. Hackman,et al.  Employee reactions to job characteristics. , 1971 .

[34]  C. Pinder,et al.  Work Motivation in Organizational Behavior , 1997 .

[35]  Thomas E. Becker,et al.  Employee commitment and motivation: a conceptual analysis and integrative model. , 2004, The Journal of applied psychology.

[36]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  Daily Well-Being: The Role of Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness , 2000 .

[37]  John R Taylor Working for free. , 2004, The Canadian journal of plastic surgery = Journal canadien de chirurgie plastique.

[38]  Andrea Bonaccorsi,et al.  Entry Strategies Under Competing Standards: Hybrid Business Models in the Open Source Software Industry , 2006, Manag. Sci..

[39]  Sonali K. Shah Motivation, Governance, and the Viability of Hybrid Forms in Open Source Software Development , 2006, Manag. Sci..

[40]  Utpal M. Dholakia,et al.  Open Source Software User Communities: A Study of Participation in Linux User Groups , 2006, Manag. Sci..

[41]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  Multiple routes for social influence: The role of compliance, internalization and social identity. , 2002 .