Motivation: A comprehensive review of the motivation-hygiene and need-hierarchy studies

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: It was the intention of this research paper to investigate the contributing factors of worker motivation in today's complex organizational structure. This review summarizes a myriad of studies from the field research of Porter's need hierarchy approach and the Herzberg et al. motivation-hygiene concept.

Findings and Conclusions: A theory of job motivation that is unified, definitive, and universal does not yet exist. Replications of Porter's research on the need-hierarchy approach have generally confirmed his findings, while replications of the Herzberg et al. motivation-hygiene theory have yielded conflicting results and provided evidence regarding the limited generality of the theory. The results of the numerous studies show that the effects of organizational variables such as security, prestige, need for accomplishment, and power are dependent on a number of complex interactions among the variables in the determination of perceptions of needs and need satisfaction.