Teachers’ Innovative Behaviour: The Importance of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction, Intrinsic Motivation, and Occupational Self-Efficacy

Teachers’ innovative behaviour and professional development are important aspects of high-quality education. It is often thought that motivation influences teachers’ innovative behaviour and professional development. The main purpose of this study is to gain more insight into motivational processes contributing to teachers’ innovative behaviour. Using Self-Determination Theory, both intrinsic motivation and basic psychological need satisfaction are addressed. From an organizational psychology perspective, occupational self-efficacy is also included in the hypothesized model. Online survey data from teachers in primary, secondary, and vocational education in the Netherlands (n = 2,385) are analysed using structural equation modeling. Results show that basic psychological need satisfaction affects both intrinsic motivation and occupational self-efficacy, and that the latter strongly supports innovative behaviour.