From the heart to the work

This project intends to validate five decades of research conducted on self-determination theory (SDT) applied to the work context. SDT research, usually using self-reported data, links the basic psychological needs of employees; the workplace levers of intervention to satisfy or frustrate these needs; the employees’ quality of motivations, and their psychological, physiological, behavioral consequences, all of these are then translated into economic terms. In this project, we intend to test their validity with the use of objective physiological data. The usefulness of SDT in economic terms will be also assessed. The intended outputs are numerous. At the scientific level, we leave what is already known by making the connection between valid and reliable data from interconnected fields (economic, organizational, psychological, and physiological), which are usually studied in silos. This will make it possible to transform the field of study and its applications in organizational health. At the methodological and economic levels, we will use technological tools now available to a large mass of people (noninvasive sensors like Fit Bit, or Polar) to obtain high-quality data on the physical health of people, namely heart-rate variability. At the economic level, we will use econometric and economic utility analyzes that we already have developed to quantify, in dollars and euros, the statistical variabilities of our variables of interest. At the social and organizational levels, it is expected that the reports that we will provide can serve as a meaningful and useful organizational diagnosis with economic, psychological, and physiological data; we believe that these are all useful, promising, requested, and necessary data for organizations.