An Empirical Examination of the Motivational Priors of Callings and the Implications for Organizations

A debate exists among calling scholars. Some view callings as largely subjective and self-relevant, fueled by passion and self-fulfillment, or something inside of a person, whereas others contend that they are guided by something outside of the self—duty, obligation, destiny. This dispute precludes a clear conceptualization of the construct and moreover, an understanding of the influences and impact of such an intense experience of work. To address these concerns, I contend it is necessary to consider both viewpoints, and to consider the impact of— and on— the organization. Integrating a unifying calling theory with insights from Ability-Motivation-Opportunity theory, I developed a theoretical model to explore the motivational priors of callings and explain when a calling may be beneficial or not for employees and organizations in terms of performance. I contend that motivation-enhancing human resource practices, which managers use to communicate and promote desired behaviors, elicit the demands felt outside of employees experienced as duty or responsibility (i.e., outer requiredness). Further, considering that the extent of demands felt inside of employees (i.e., inner requiredness) will also alter the experience of calling and thus employee behaviors relevant to performance, I examined the relationships between outer requiredness and performance outcomes as moderated by inner requiredness. I hypothesized that as inner requiredness increases, the positive relationships between outer requiredness and task performance and OCB strengthen, and the positive relationship between outer requiredness and a form of constructive deviance, pro-social rule breaking, strengthens. I tested my hypotheses in a time-separated, multi-source study using employed adults and their supervisors. Prior to hypothesis testing, I also conducted two pilot studies for measurement validation. Although I did not find support for my main study hypotheses, findings from my pilot studies and post-hoc analyses reveal important theoretical and practical considerations.