Self Determination Theory (SDT) recognises that people may experience their motivations as either coming from within themselves (autonomous) or from outside of themselves (controlled). Unlike traditional motivation processes, SDT makes distinctions between underling regulatory motivational processes. On one side, amotivation reflects a lack of any motivation towards work, whereas external regulation and introjected regulation reflect controlled motivation where they are controlled by external forces, such as work for pay or prestige. At the other end of the continuum, identified regulation, integrated regulation and intrinsic motivation reflect autonomous motivation where an employee is internally motivated towards their work (e.g. work activities being viewed as meaningful). The following study explores the six dimensions of motivation on a sample of 386 New Zealand managers towards work-family and family-work enrichment and job satisfaction using SEM.

The data fit a partial mediation model best. The model showed that autonomous motivation dimensions influenced job satisfaction only indirectly through enrichment rather than as a direct predictor. Intrinsic motivation was found to be significantly and positively related to family-work enrichment, while integrated regulation and identified regulation was also significantly and positively related to work-family enrichment. However, controlled motivation dimensions were found to both directly influence job satisfaction and enrichment dimensions. Amotivation was significantly and negatively related to job satisfaction, while external regulation was significantly and negatively related to job satisfaction and family-work enrichment. Both work-family and family-work enrichment positively influenced job satisfaction. Overall, the six motivation dimensions accounted for moderate amounts of variance towards family-work enrichment (12%) and work-family enrichment (15%), while a sizeable 25% job satisfaction. When enrichment is included, the model accounts for 30% of the variance towards job satisfaction. Overall, motivation influenced enrichment and job satisfaction as expected, with motivation influencing job satisfaction both directly and indirectly through enrichment dimensions. This study shows the importance that motivation can play towards enhancing enrichment and job satisfaction at least amongst managers.