A Comparison of Work Motivation in Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Netherlands: Test of a Model

This article describes a study into the antecedents and consequences of job involvement and organisational commitment of workers in Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Netherlands. On the basis of the literature a general model of work motivation is developed which depicts job characteristics, opportunities to satisfy needs, and extrinsic work factors as determinants of job involvement and organisational commitment, and considers effort expenditure, performance, job satisfaction, turnover, and work stress as outcomes. Data from worker samples in the three countries obtained with equivalent instruments are used to test the validity of the model. Path analysis shows that the model has a modest fit when applied to the three samples simultaneously. A better fit and more meaningful results are obtained by developing optimal models for each country. The peculiarities of these models can be largely explained from cultural and economic factors. Since the differences between Bulgaria and Hungary are as great as the differences with the Netherlands, there seems to be little evidence for a motivational after‐effect of communism.