Abstract The increasing demands and challenges in the healthcare industry, particularly within the nursing profession, necessitate a deeper understanding of the factors that enhance nurses' motivation to engage in prosocial motivation behaviors. This study examines the pivotal issue of how positive affectivity and task characteristics buffer the relationship between career growth opportunity and perceived supervisor support on prosocial motivation behavior among nurses. This study employed a transverse research design involving 750 nurses aged 29–55 years (M = 35.17, SD = 7.48) selected from government-owned hospitals in Southeast Nigeria. Data were collected via an online survey utilizing standardized measures, including the Career Growth Opportunity Scale, Perceived Supervisor Support Scale, Positive Affective Scale, Task Characteristics Scale, and the Prosocial Motivation Scale. Hayes Process Macro, Model 2, version 3 was used for data analysis. The findings indicate that career growth opportunities, perceived supervisor support, positive affectivity, and task characteristics have a positive relationship with prosocial motivation behavior. In addition, positive affectivity moderated the relationship between organizational career growth and prosocial motivation behaviour, but did not on perceived supervisor support and prosocial motivation behaviour. However, task characteristics moderated the extent to which career growth opportunity and supervisor support predicted prosocial motivation behavior. These results highlight the importance of fostering a supportive work environment and enhancing job characteristics to promote prosocial motivation behaviors, which are crucial for improving patient care and team dynamics in healthcare. The implications of this study suggest that healthcare organizations should consider individual psychological traits and job design when developing strategies aimed at enhancing employee engagement and supportive workplace behaviors.
Obinna et al. (Wed,) studied this question.