How the Organizational Effectiveness Impacts Volunteers' Intrinsic Motivation: A Perspective on Self-determination Theory

In recent years, voluntary section has showed a trend of expansion in China over the last couple of years. However, the development of non-profit organizations (NPOs) has been limited due to the shortage of resources in both public and private sectors. The present study aimed to understand the relations among the organizational culture, volunteers' psychological needs and their motivational aspects via the self-determination theory (SDT) and whether each of the three psychological needs plays the mediation role between organizational culture and volunteers' motivation. A total of 285 volunteers from different NPOs completed a survey questionnaire, and two studies were conducted. The results indicated that organizational effectiveness is positively related to volunteers' intrinsic motivation, and the mediation analysis supported the partial mediation effects of psychological needs between organizational effectiveness and intrinsic motivation. Research findings provided empirical evidence to understand the associations between organizational culture, volunteers' motivation and psychological needs.