Minder hard werken door autonomie: keuze of kenmerk?

Although autonomy is considered an important element of job design, research on the effect of autonomy on work effort is rare and inconclusive. Both positive and negative relationships are being reported, but most theories fail to explain the negative causality. Here, it was attempted to explain the negative relationship by using two different definitions of work effort. Agency theory assumes that a negative effect of autonomy on voluntary effort is mediated by controlability of employees. Workstress theory assumes that a negative effect of autonomy on unvoluntary work effort is mediated by workstress. Both theories were tested using European Social Survey data. Although regression analysis confirms a negative effect of autonomy on work effort, the trend could not be explained by the tested theories.