University

University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Wikipedians, and Why They Do It:

Motivational Dynamics
of Voluntary Engagement
in an Open Web-based Encyclopedia

Joachim Schroer & Guido Hertel

University of Wuerzburg

EAWOP 2007 / Stockholm / May 11, 2007

Slide 1 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Wikipedia
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

• “The encyclopedia anyone can edit”

• Mission statement:
“Imagine a world in which every single person on
the planet is given free access to the sum of all
human knowledge. That's what we're doing.”

• Web 2.0

• Huge success

• Who writes – and why?

Slide 2 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Study 1:
Social Task Survey of Study 2:
movement charac- German International
participation teristics Wikipedia survey
project

Slide 3 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Social Movement Participation
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

● Three classes of motives for voluntary

engagement (Klandermans, 1997, 2004)
1. Norm-oriented motives
“How do friends and family respond to the
engagement?”
2. Costs and benefits
“Which benefits/costs are caused by the
engagement?”
3. Collective motives
“How important are the goals of the movement?”

● Independent pathway (Simon et al.,1998)

4. Identification with the social movement

Slide 4 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Job Characteristics Model
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Core Job Job Characteristics

Critical ModelAffective and
Motivational
Characteristcs Psychological Outcomes Behavioral
States Outcomes
Skill Variety

Task
Meaningfulness Satisfaction
Significance

Task
Identity

Autonomy Responsibility Performance

Knowledge
Feedback Motivation
of Results

Slide 5 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Research Model
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Predictors Process Variables Affective and

Behavioral
Outcomes
Norm-or.
Motives

Costs and + Satisfaction

Benefits

+
Collective
Motives
+ +
Wikipedia
Identification
+ Engagement
+
+
Task Charact. Motivation

Slide 6 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Study 1: Survey of the German
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg Wikipedia Project
• Cross-sectional design

• Recruitment over mailing list

of German Wikipedia project, two reminders

• Online March 22 – April 09, 2005

• N = 106

Slide 7 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Overview of Measures
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

• Predictors
– Norm-oriented motives, costs/benefits, collective motives
– Identification
– Perceived task characteristics (JDS)
• Process variables
– Intrinsic motivation
• Task enjoyment
• Experienced competence
• “Flow”
• Outcomes
– Satisfaction
– Engagement
• Time invested in engagement (work/leisure)
• Articles on “watchlist”

Slide 8 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Weighted Means (N = 106)
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Norm-oriented Motives 4.1

Costs and Benefits 4.64

Collective Motives 6.17

Identification 4.87

Task Characteristics 4.63

Intrinsic Motivation 5.47

Satisfaction 5.53

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Slide 9 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Regression Model (N = 106)
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Satisfaction Engagement
Norm-oriented
Motives .12 * (dir.) .08
Costs and Benefits .26 * -.31 *
Collective Motives .11 -.10
Identification .19 * .12
Task Characteristics .52 *** .22
Intrinsic Motivation .01 .23 * (dir.)
R² .62 .28

Slide 11 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Intrinsic Motivation as Mediator
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Controlling for mediator:

c’ = .21, p < .05
Autonomy
Task c = .32, p < .001
Significance Engagement
character.
Feedback

a = .42, p < .001 b = .25, p = .02

Intrinsic
Motivation

Sobel test:
z = 2.15, p < .05

Partial mediation

Slide 12 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Study 2: International Survey
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

• Integration of “Generativity”

• Recruitment
1. Mailing lists of the largest Wikipedia projects
(two reminders)
2. Community websites und blogs
3. Front page of English Wikipedia
4. Open Source portal “NewsForge”

• Online July 11 – August 15, 2005

• N = 354

Slide 13 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Weighted Means (N = 354)
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Norm-oriented Motives 3.14

Costs and Benefits 5.04

Collective Motives 6.09

Identification 5.37

Task Characteristics 4.65

Generativity 5.47

Intrinsic Motivation 5.57

Satisfaction 5.32

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Slide 14 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Regression Model (N = 354)
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Satisfaction Engagement
Norm-oriented
Motives .04 -.04
Costs and Benefits .22 *** -.21 **
Collective Motives .00 -.05
Identification .30 *** .20 *
Generativity .07 .00
Task Characteristics .19 *** .05
Intrinsic Motivation .25 *** .15 * (dir.)
R² .53 .10

Slide 16 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Intrinsic Motivation as Mediator
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Controlling for mediator:

c’ = .06, p = .30

Task c = .12, p < .05

Engagement
character.

a = .39, p < .001 b = .15, p = .01

Intrinsic
Motivation

Sobel test:
z = 2.43, p = .02

Complete mediation

Slide 17 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Summary of Results
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

• Costs and Benefits

– Positive association with satisfaction
– Negative association with engagement
• Collective Motives / Generativity
– Considered import by Wikipedians
– Not associated with satisfaction or engagement
• Identification
– Positive association with satisfaction and engagement

• Task Characteristics
– Important: autonomy, task significance, and feedback
– Strong association with satisfaction
– Effect on engagement mediated by intrinsic motivation

Slide 18 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 Outlook
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Wikipedians, and why they do it:

1. Reasons to get involved

– Collective motives / “Generativity”
– Learning
2. Reasons to stay engaged
– Task characteristics
– Intrinsic motivation
– Identification

• Paper available at:

http://www.abo.psychologie.uni-
wuerzburg.de/virtualcollaboration/
Slide 19 University of Wuerzburg
Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
 References
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Hackman, J. & Oldham, G. R. (1974). The Job Diagnostic Survey: An

instrument for the diagnosis of jobs and the evaluation of job redesign
projects. Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 4, 148-149.
Hackman, J. & Oldham, G. R. (1980). Work redesign. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hertel, G., Niedner, S. & Herrmann, S. (2003). Motivation of software
developers in Open Source projects: An internet-based survey of
contributors to the Linux kernel. Research Policy, 32, 1159-1177.
Klandermans, B. (1997). The social psychology of protest. Oxford: Blackwell.
Klandermans, B. (2004). The demand and supply of participation: Social
psychological correlates of participation in social movements. In D. A.
Snow, S. Soule & H. Kriesi (Eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Social
Movements (pp. 360-379). Oxford: Blackwell.
McAdams, D. P. & de St. Aubin, E. (1992). A theory of generativity and its
assessment through self-report, behavioral acts, and narrative themes in
autobiography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 1003-
1015.
Simon, B., Loewy, M., Stürmer, S., Weber, U., Freytag, P., Habig, C. et al.
(1998). Collective identification and social movement participation.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 646-658.
Stürmer, S. & Simon, B. (2004). Collective action: Towards a dual-pathway
model. European Review of Social Psychology, 15, 59-99.
Slide 20 University of Wuerzburg
Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg

Backup Slides

Slide 21 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg
Study 1: Demographics

Gender
88% male
25 23 10% female

20 18
16
14 Age
15
M = 33 years
10 8 9 SD = 13 years
7

5 4
3 2
1
0
15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65
-1

-2

-2

-3

-4

-5

-5

-6
-3

-4

-6
4
9

9
Slide 22 University of Wuerzburg
Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg
Study 1: Demographics

other
n/a Employment status
1%
9%
unemployed
5%

full-time
43%

college student
25%

student
part-time
7%
10%

Slide 23 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology
University
University of
of Wuerzburg
Wuerzburg
Study 1: Demographics

divorced
n/a Partnership /
2%
5%
family background
married
15%

single
51%

partnership
27%

Slide 24 University of Wuerzburg

Work, Industrial & Organizational Psychology