Facilitating Acceptance of Organizational Change: The Importance of Self-Determination‘

Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1987, 1991) proposes that internalization can be facilitated by supporting a person’s autonomy. Autonomy support can be achieved using 3 means: giving a rationale for doing a task, offering some choice about how to do the task, and acknowledging feelings about the task. We examined the effects of these 3 factors on acceptance of change in a work organization. Employees from a large Canadian telecommunications company that was in the midst of profound transformation completed scales on 2 separate occasions. Cross-sectional and longitudinal results demonstrated that the 3 factors facilitated acceptance of organizational change, with substantial effect sizes. Implications for successful organizational transformation are discussed.