2024–26
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The brief
Employee motivation and engagement sit at the center of organizational competitiveness, particularly as business structures and processes become flatter and more organic. Scholars and practitioners keep asking for actionable insights, interventions, and evidence-based practices that motivate and engage people in ways that hold up over time. Psychological health — promoting well-being and preventing ill-being — is the foundation those outcomes rest on.
This Special Issue invited empirical and theoretical contributions across that territory: motivational profiles, changes in motivation over time, flexible and hybrid work arrangements, training and development interventions, and the longitudinal and temporal patterns linking motivation to health at work. Fifteen papers were accepted between October 2024 and February 2026, drawing on samples from Germany, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Italy, and the United States.
Published papers
2026
1Zhu, W., Gan, R., Liu, D., & Luo, X. Which Is More Influential in University Teachers: Work Interfering with Family or Family Interfering with Work? A Network Analysis. Behavioral Sciences, 16(3), 322.DOI →
2Di Tecco, C., Marzocchi, I., Russo, S., Comotti, A., Fattori, A., Laurino, M., Bufano, P., Ciocan, C., Ferrari, L., & Bonzini, M. Work Ability in the Digital Age: The Role of Work Engagement, Job Resources and Traditional and Emerging Job Demands Among Older White-Collar Workers. Behavioral Sciences, 16(2), 191.DOI →
3Tooley, K. M., Dailey, S. L., Schmiedehaus, E., Cordaro, M., Dwyer, N., Jerkins, D., & Howard, K. Between Class and Career: Applying the Job Demands–Resources Model to Working College Students. Behavioral Sciences, 16(1), 61.DOI →
4Meng, Y., & Huang, M. The Effect of Organizational Support Climate on Employees' Positive Deviance: A Parallel Mediation Model. Behavioral Sciences, 16(1), 53.DOI →
2025
5Wirth, T., Rohwer, E., Jaß, L., Harth, V., & Mache, S. Hybrid Work in German Public Administration: Social Resources, Occupational Health Literacy and Work Design Competencies in Association with Work Engagement. Behavioral Sciences, 15(8), 1123.DOI →
6Wang, Y., Song, K., Guo, M., & Ye, L. Back to Work, Running on Empty? How Recovery Needs and Perceived Organizational Support Shape Employees' Vigor Upon Return to Work. Behavioral Sciences, 15(7), 889.DOI →
7Wang, Z., & Briand, M. Understand the Changes in Motivation at Work: Empirical Studies Using Self-Determination Theory-Based Interventions. Behavioral Sciences, 15(7), 864. Guest Editor's paperDOI →
8Fang, Z., & Zhang, Q. How Does Accountability Exacerbate Job Burnout in the Public Sector? Exploratory Research in Production Supervision in China. Behavioral Sciences, 15(6), 747.DOI →
9Cao, Q., Chen, C.-F., Hu, H.-L., & Hsiao, Y.-C. Social Capital and Job Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and Psychological Capital. Behavioral Sciences, 15(6), 714.DOI →
10Shin, I., Park, J. G., & Chae, H. What Turns Task Crafters into High Performers? Affective Commitment and Strategic Alignment as Critical Levers. Behavioral Sciences, 15(5), 678.DOI →
11Gu, C., Ma, Z., Li, X., Zhang, J., & Huang, Q. When Cultural Resources Amplify Psychological Strain: Off-Work Music Listening, Homophily, and the Homesickness–Burnout Link Among Migrant Workers. Behavioral Sciences, 15(5), 666.DOI →
12Piao, J., & Hahn, J. How Empowering Leadership Drives Proactivity in the Chinese IT Industry: Mediation Through Team Job Crafting and Psychological Safety with ICT Knowledge as a Moderator. Behavioral Sciences, 15(5), 609.DOI →
2024
13Ye, L., Li, Y., Zhang, N., & Zhang, J. The Influence of Work Engagement on Employee Affect and Creativity: Insights from Occupational Mental Health. Behavioral Sciences, 14(12), 1217.DOI →
14Zhou, N., Liu, X., Jin, X., Li, T., Wang, C., & Admiraal, W. Motivation for and Challenges in Teacher Research in Underdeveloped Areas of Northwest China: An Exploratory Study. Behavioral Sciences, 14(11), 1064.DOI →
15Wang, Z., Carroll, S., & Wang, E. H. Bridging Employees' Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility, Sense-Making for Meaningfulness, and Work Engagement for Successful Self-Regulation. Behavioral Sciences, 14(11), 1014. Guest Editor's paperDOI →
Keywords
work motivation
work engagement
flexible work
motivation profile
changes in motivation
psychological health
employee well-being
motivational training and development
longitudinal and temporal patterns
Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Zheni Wang
Professor of Management, School of Business, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT 06515, USA
Research interests: motivation · leadership · HRM · cross-cultural management
zheni.wang@southernct.edu · Research · Publications
Currently open
Algorithmic Management and Multi-Stakeholder Well-Being
A Special Issue of Administrative Sciences (MDPI) on how algorithmic systems shape work, innovation, employee well-being, and consumer experience. Abstracts due 30 November 2026.
See the call for papers →