Historical differences in intrinsic work motivation in midlife in Germany

Intrinsic work motivation is important for workers’ performance and well-being across all ages. Ongoing demographic change makes it particular important to study the work motivation of ageing workers, not the least because it may affect their later retirement decisions. The changing world of work, cohort differences in personality and health, as well as changing labor and pension policies may lead to historical differences in intrinsic work motivation, However, such effects have seldom been studied. In the present study, we examined historical differences in workers aged between 50 and 52 in either 2011 or 2022/23, based on two samples of the population-based German lidA survey. We found that those interviewed in 2022/23 showed slightly lower intrinsic work motivation (d = 0.11) than their earlier counterparts. Analyses also showed that opportunities for development and social support showed a stronger association with work motivation in the later-born sample, compared to the earlier cohort. Our results suggest that historical changes may affect work attitudes and that job demands and resources are possible targets to address workers’ work motivation.