Do You Feel Socialized? Bridging Motivation and Distal Organizational Outcomes in Military and Police

Organizational socialization within the military and police personnel extends beyond internalizing institutional values. It refers to a dynamic process through which personnel take on various social roles, seeing themselves as newcomers, full members, or marginal members of the organization (Wanberg, 2012). Being socialized entails an active personal reinterpretation of military and police contexts, suggesting that this construct plays a key role in shaping the dynamics between work motivation and organizational outcomes, like work well-being, morale, and turnover intention. In this study, work motivation is conceptualized within the framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985). Concerning the aforementioned constructs, the present research aims to shed light on similarities and differences between police and military institutions. Results show that intrinsic motivation and amotivation are the only dimensions of work motivation in military and police personnel that influence both direct effects on socialization and indirect effects on morale, well-being, and turnover intentions, with socialization playing a mediating role in these relationships. Military and police organizations can enhance their effectiveness by focusing on personnel motivation and fostering positive socialization dynamics. The proposed model offers practical implications for organizations in designing supportive programs and encourages employees to apply the speculations derived from the study’s findings to improve their work conditions.