Literature Review on Motivational Profiles: A Person-centred Approach to Motivation

Abstract

This paper reviews past literature on motivation, with a focus on the person-centred approach. Through reviewing the conceptualisation and development of motivation research, it analyses the theory and method of motivational profiles, and discusses its real-life implications. This paper finds that the person-centred approach provides insights for many abstract key performance indicators, ranging from employees’ work attitude to affective commitment, to an embracement of ownership culture. Intervention programs based on this approach also showed not higher adaptation to stress, stronger perceived organization support, and stronger team motivation. Employees also reflected stronger individual’s identification with team values and their purpose in work. Practically speaking, research findings have strong implications in workplace hiring, in that motivational profile highlights person-environment fit as an antecedent for enhancing high-quality motivation. However, due to its recent emergence, more research is needed for more solid consensus in how profiles are identified and how they interact in different industry contexts.