Motivating Employees Through Thick and Thin: The Relationship Between Hospital Employee Aspirations and Body Mass Index

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to bridge the gap in the existing literature regarding the relationship between motivation and aspirations of obese and overweight employees. Based on data collected from 103 hospital employees, obese and overweight employees placed significantly lower importance on intrinsic aspirations than did their healthier counterparts. In addition, healthy, overweight, and obese employees all placed equal importance on extrinsic aspirations. The results of the study indicate that using intrinsic aspirations and rewards to motivate overweight and obese employees in a disease prevention program may be less effective than using an extrinsic reward system