| This study explored the work environment of students who serve as campus tour guides to determine the extent to which specific organizational factors support the satisfaction of three psychological needs, which have been associated with intrinsic motivation, performance, satisfaction, and persistence. Uncovering criteria that may impact the motivation and behaviors of campus tour guides is timely in that the campus visit is the most trusted source of information utilized by high school juniors and seniors (Eduventures, 2007).;Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985; 1991; 2000) offers a framework to determine the impact of contextual factors on the motivation and behaviors of campus tour guides. According to SDT, the context in which behavior is enacted can serve as a resource for the satisfaction of the psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.;Survey data from 27 supervisors and 260 campus tour guides who work at large public research universities was analyzed. It was predicated that volunteer guides would report higher intrinsic need satisfaction (INS); this hypothesis was not supported. It was also proposed that guide's who report to an office other than undergraduate admissions, would report higher INS. This hypothesis was not supported however other positive affects for the work environment of campus tour guides were uncovered. It was also predicted that for paid guides, an environment of need support would positively affect INS; and that intrinsic rewards, supervisory coaching, formal training, and feedback from tour participants would positively affect INS. These hypotheses were all supported. Additional findings suggest that INS significantly predicts the commitment, job satisfaction, and sense of pride expressed among campus tour guides. This study also described the students who serve as campus tour guides and their supervisors, as well as the ways they are selected, trained, compensated, and evaluated.;The findings of this study must be interpreted with an understanding that while intrinsic motivation is an important dimension of organizational effectiveness, it is but one aspect that affects college choice. Factors that support the quality of the campus visit experience and the satisfaction of tour participants should be considered equally important to the college search process. |
