PERSONAL INVESTMENT THEORY Damon Burton University of Idaho

PERSONAL INVESTMENT THEORY HISTORY Maehr & Braskamp (1994) applied Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) to business Identified 8 major goals that define success and failure in business Developed the Inventory of Personal Investment (IPI) to measure key components of the theory.

PERSONAL INVESTMENT Investment is a business-oriented term for motivation. Individuals may have multiple incentives or goals that they are trying to attain in any business situation. Incentives interact with (a) sense-of-self variables that define traits that influence motivation, and (b) perceived options or the other alternatives you have to meet important incentives. The importance of different investment options may vary according to situational and contextual factors.

MEANING CORE OF PERSONAL INVESTMENT

FACTORS COMPRISING & INFLUENCING “MEANING”

PERSONAL INCENTIVES Personal incentives are business-oriented terms for goals. Individuals may have multiple incentives or goals that they are trying to attain in any business situation. The more incentives individuals are striving to attain in a situation, the generally higher the motivation and the more resilient to failure and adversity. The importance of different SOS variables may vary according to situational and contextual factors.

8 PERSONAL INCENTIVES Competition, Power, Excellence, Task Involvement, Affiliation, Social Concern, Recognition, and Financial Rewards.

8 PERSONAL INCENTIVES Competition – gaining satisfaction & feeling positive about yourself when you win. Competitive & like to win. Power – seeking out & enjoying positions of leadership & authority. Confident working with others and trust intuitions in making judgments. Excellence – continually thinking of ways to improve, working hard & enjoying solving problems. Task Involvement – totally involved in what they are doing, regard work as exciting & fun, like challenges and enjoy solving challenging problems.

8 PERSONAL INCENTIVES Affiliation – liking to be in the company of friends, enjoy helping others, and are friendly, trusting and show affection for others. Social Concern – gain satisfaction by sacrificing personal gains for others, committing themselves to social and civic causes and follow “golden rule.” Recognition – want recognition for what they do & work harder when receiving recognition. Want respect from co-workers, and do best work when others encourage them and praise them. Financial Rewards – value money, seek positions that provide bonuses and extra income. Money is an indicator of success & monetary rewards prompt best work.

SENSE-OF-SELF VARIABLES Sense-of-self (SOS) variables are personality traits that influence motivation. Individuals may be strong on some SOS variables and weak on others. The more SOS variables that are strong, the generally higher the motivation and the more resilient to failure and adversity. The importance of different SOS variables may vary according to situational and contextual factors.

3 SENSE-OF-SELF VARIABLES Competence, Self-Reliance, and Goal-Directedness.

3 SENSE-OF-SELF VARIABLES Competence – determined by (a) consistently achieving one’s goals & (b) taking credit for that success as indictive of one’s skills or personally desirable attributes. Self-Reliance -- taking responsibility for pursuing and achieving one’s goals. Goal-Directedness – consistently & enthusiastically pursuing one’s chosen goals.

PERCEIVED OPTIONS Perceived options are a way to operationalize alternate choices or goal opportunities. Individuals may have different types of perceived options in different situations. The more perceived options, the generally lower the motivation for the task at hand and the less resilient one is towards failure and adversity. The importance of different perceived options vary according to situational and contextual factors.

2 PERCEIVED OPTIONS Organization advancement, and Marketability.

2 PERCEIVED OPTIONS Organizational advancement – extent to which employees feel that they can advance in the organization & are not stuck in their current jobs. Marketability – extent to which employees perceive that they can find good alternative jobs or career opportunities and feel positive about their future.

MERCANTILISTS VERSUS ACADEMICS

COLLEGE VS UNIVERSITY FACULTY

HIGH ACHIEVERS VERSUS EVERYONE ELSE

ENHANCING PERSONAL INVESTMENT Person-focused strategies Job-focused strategies Organization-focused strategies

PERSON-FOCUSED STRATEGIES Selecting motivated people Placement of putting the right person in the appropriate job Developing new goals and sense-of-self variables in individuals.

JOB-FOCUSED STRATEGIES change job itself change larger organizational network in which the job is performed social aspects inherent attractiveness evaluation

ORGANIZATION-FOCUSED STRATEGIES establishing & communicating a mission establishing salient goals concern for individual in the organization delegate power identify and reward excellence

WHICH INCENTIVES ARE MOST HELPFUL? Which of these personal incentives are more personally controllable and thus make success easier to attain? Which personal incentives are less personally controllable and thus make success harder to attain?

Use Personal Investment Theory to profile Brett Favre’s motivation to play football for the Minnesota Vikings next season.

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