How much effort will I put into my work? It depends on your type of motivation

Why do some employees put a lot of effort into their job, while others don't? Several motivational theories such as reinforcement theory, Maslow's need hierarchy, expectancy-value theory, and goal setting theory have shed light on this issue. Recently, self-determination theory (SDT) has provided an encompassing framework to understand the (proximal and distal) personal and situational influences of motivation that have been suggested. SDT starts from a positive perspective on humanity and proposes that employees put the most effort in their job when they are satisfied in their needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, when they have high autonomous motivation (i.e., identified and intrinsic motivation) and low controlled motivation (i.e., external and introjected motivation) for their job and pursue intrinsic (i.e., affiliation, personal growth, community contribution), but not extrinsic (i.e., power, materialism, status, financial success) values.