The moderator effect of commitment on the relations between satisfaction and motivation in Special Employement Centres

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the relation between satisfaction, commitment and motivation among employees with mild intellectual disabilities. The present research analyses the moderated effect of commitment on the relation between satisfaction of employees with intellectual disabilities and their motivation. Method: Employees with legally recognized intellectual disabilities, following the Spanish law, answered a questionnaire. The present authors examined bivariate relations across all variables in the model. Subsequently, a moderator model was tested, using the Johnson-Neyman and the pick-a-point approximation. Result: There was a direct effect between employees' satisfaction and motivation (b = 2.4621; p < .0001). Commitment had a moderator effect on this relation (b = [−3.36 to −0.30]; p < .001), especially for those employees with lower levels of commitment. Conclusions: Our research focuses on the antecedents of work motivation of employees with mild intellectual disabilities as full employees. So, our results help HR managers to increase employees' motivational levels, as one of the main objectives of healthy organizations.