HOW SYMBOLIC AWARDS SHAPE MOTIVATION AND HELPING INTENTIONS THROUGH ANTICIPATED PROMINENCE AND STATUS

Abstract

This dissertation examines how employees interpret symbolic awards and how those interpretations shape their motivation to pursue these awards and engage in helping behavior. Symbolic awards are non-material incentives that organizations frequently use as a relatively low-cost way to motivate employees. In this dissertation, I argue that the motivational effects of these awards depend on how employees interpret the value of the award, the social consequences of winning, and the organizational context in which the award is embedded. This work aims to distinguish prominence (i.e., attention, awareness, and visibility) from status (i.e., respect and admiration) and to show that prominence plays an independent role in explaining responses to awards. In particular, I propose a novel model in which higher symbolic value increases anticipated status and anticipated prominence, which in turn increase award motivation and helping intentions. I further predict that the effect of anticipated prominence on motivation is dependent on perceptions of organizational politics. To address a key measurement gap and to ensure that prominence is empirically separable from other hierarchy constructs, I conducted two studies to develop and validate a new prominence scale (Sample 1 and Sample 2). Establishing that prominence is empirically distinct is essential for testing the dissertation model, which argues that employees are motivated to pursue awards by prominence, apart from status. Three additional studies test the hypotheses in my theoretical model. First, a field study of real awards and prospective recipients is conducted to demonstrate that perceptions of symbolic value vary in naturalistic settings (Pilot Study). In Study 1, I experimentally test the effects of symbolic value on award motivation through anticipated status and anticipated prominence. Study 2 tests the full theoretical model by examining perceived organizational politics as a contextual moderator of the prominence pathway and by testing helping intentions as a downstream behavioral outcome. Across these five data collections, the findings indicate that the symbolic value of awards increases anticipated status and anticipated prominence, that these anticipated outcomes jointly and separately help explain variation in award motivation, and that award motivation is positively associated with helping intentions. In addition, perceived organizational politics moderates the relationship between anticipated prominence and award motivation, such that anticipated prominence is more positively related to award motivation when perceived politics is high. Taken together, this research advances our understanding of how symbolic awards influence motivation and helping behavior by showing that their effects depend on how employees interpret the social consequences of winning.