Self-Concept Theory of Work Motivation

Structure of Self-Concept

Current theories purport that self-concept is a multidimensional knowledge structure that helps individuals organize and give meaning to memory and behavior. Indeed, psychologists have argued that attaching an object or event to the self gives it special meaning (e.g., my car versus a car). Self-concept may be seen as consisting of attributes related to individual selfperception, including traits, competencies, and values. For example, individuals may use trait terms such as ambitious and dependable to describe their essential character or hold perceptions of the competencies they possess (e.g., “I am a good leader”).

The working self-concept (WSC) is the highly activated, contextually sensitive portion of the selfconcept that guides action and information processing on a moment-to-moment basis. The activation of the components of the WSC varies depending on the cues in one's current context. For example, one's self-concept may include several roles, such as being a parent, a spouse, and an employee. These alternative self-concepts are associated with different social contexts, which become activated when the right social cues are present.

The WSC can be viewed as consisting of three components: self-views, or one's perceived standing on salient attributes, and two types of comparative standards—current goals, which are short-term and narrowly focused, and possible selves, which are long-term and future focused and provide much broader comparative standards. These three components combine to create control systems that regulate motivation. Furthermore, a control system may involve any two of the three components, so that one component provides the standard and the other the source of feedback. Researchers have proposed that combinations of the three components have very different motivational consequences on work behavior.

Finally, self-concept also has different focal levels that are composed of personal and social identities. Personal identity refers to self-categorization based on comparisons to others that emphasize one's own uniqueness. Social identity is based on self-definition through relations with others or through group membership, and thus it emphasizes one's similarities and connectedness. These identities are active at different times, creating a personal WSC or, alternatively, a social WSC.

Relationship between Self-Concept and Work Motivation

The self-concept is a source of work motivation in that individuals are motivated to maintain and enhance an [Page 704]internalized view of the self. Specifically, the meaning that individuals attribute to information is often a function of the strength of their self-perceptions and their need to affirm their self-concept. In an organizational setting, employees make choices among behavioral alternatives, set and accept work goals, take on projects, and generally direct effort toward obtaining task and social feedback that is consistent with their self-concept. In addition, when there is conflict between the self-concept and social or task feedback, employees may engage in a number of adaptive strategies to achieve congruence between their self-concept and performance feedback (e.g., increasing effort, changing feedback).

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