The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2 - 31

Resident Assistant Workplace Motivation

tiple interviews, an application, and a group
role-playing component-they do not necessarily understand what motivates students to
become a resident assistant (Upcraft & Pilato,
1982). Though several studies have examined
RA motivation (Bell, 2002; Bierman, 1992;
Deluga & Winters, 1991), they were conducted
more than 10 years ago, and the complexity of
job expectations for RAs has grown dramatically in that time.
The purpose of this study was to examine
the motivational factors of current RAs when
they applied for the RA position. The research
seeks to discover the most significant motivational factors, as well as predictors of motivation. Further, the study aims to understand
if those motivational factors change with the
influence of time in the position or vary given
specific demographic and work environment
characteristics (gender and race/ethnicity, type
of institution, type of residential community,
number of students RA was serving, and class
standing of students the RA was serving).

Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks
The conceptual framework for the study is
rooted in one conducted by Deluga and Winters
in 1991 for which the authors developed a
questionnaire-the Resident Assistant Motivation Questionnaire (RAMQ)-to help them
understand why RAs apply for the position.
The survey measures six motivational factors:
helping behaviors, career development, desire
for power, personal growth, financial obligations, and RA cohesiveness. The study sought
to examine what attracts students to apply for
the RA position, given the stress and frustration often associated with the role (Deluga &
Winters, 1991).

. . . the most prominent factor
motivating students to apply
for the RA position is a desire to
help others .

The theoretical framework that guides
this study is rooted in Herzberg's (1959) twofactor theory: hygiene factors and motivators.
This theory posits that hygiene factors such as
salary, work conditions, and possibility for promotion can create dissatisfaction if employees
identify the factors as inequitable or unsatisfactory. Herzberg also states that the motivation of employees will not necessarily increase
if they begin to feel that the hygiene factors
are improving but that the intrinsic factors of
personal growth, mastery, and increased autonomy do motivate employees and can shape
job satisfaction. As Herzberg theorized, satisfaction does not always correlate with better
performance.
There are correlations between Herzberg's
(1959) two-factor theory of motivation and
Deluga and Winters' (1991) RAMQ that help to
further understand the theoretical framework
for this study. Herzberg, Mausner, and Snyderman (2010) postulated two categories of factors
that affect motivation: the hygiene or extrinsic
factors and the motivators or intrinsic factors.
They also suggested that factors leading to job
satisfaction were "intrinsic," while those leading
to job dissatisfaction were "extrinsic" (Caston
& Braoto, 1985, p. 271). Herzberg's extrinsic
factors could be directly correlated with Deluga
and Winters' motivational factor categories of
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2

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