Purpose

This study applies self-determination theory to investigate how motivations to participate in LinkedIn would influence a professional's intention to leave an organization for professional advancement (ILPA).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors randomly sampled 5810 professionals who are actively participating in LinkedIn for at least six months and collected 379 completed questionnaires.

Findings

This study examines the effect of motivation to participate in LinkedIn on ILPA. Perceived autonomy support, perceived competence support and perceived relatedness support have positive influences on intrinsic motivation. Introjected regulation is positively influenced by perceived autonomy and competence support but unaffected by perceived relatedness support. External regulation is positively influenced by perceived autonomy and competence support but has no relationship with perceived relatedness support. ILPA from using LinkedIn is positively influenced by intrinsic motivation, introjected and external regulations.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should consider other professional network sites as well as longitudinal research designs to address external validity and causality issues.

Practical implications

Organizations should understand that professional network sites play an important role for professional advancement. The motivations to participate in professional network sites are supports on autonomy and competence. For platform designers, it is vital to enhance supports on autonomy and competence to sustain users' participation in professional network sites.

Originality/value

This study extends the scope of self-determination theory to understand the motivations to participate in professional network sites, which will have impacts on professionals' ILPA.

中文翻译：

---

LinkedIn的力量：LinkedIn如何使专业人员离开他们的组织以促进专业发展

目的

这项研究使用自决理论来研究参加LinkedIn的动机将如何影响专业人士离开组织以寻求专业晋升（ILPA）的意图。

设计/方法/方法

作者随机抽取了至少10个月积极参加LinkedIn的5810名专业人员，并收集了379份完整的问卷。

发现

这项研究考察了参加ILPA上的LinkedIn动机的影响。感知的自主性支持，感知的能力支持和关联性支持对内在动机具有积极影响。引入的监管受到感知的自主权和能力支持的积极影响，但不受感知的关联性支持的影响。外部规制受到感知的自主权和能力支持的积极影响，但与感知的关联性支持无关。使用LinkedIn的ILPA受内在动机，引入的和外部法规的积极影响。

研究局限/意义

未来的研究应考虑其他专业网络站点以及纵向研究设计，以解决外部有效性和因果关系问题。

实际影响

组织应了解专业网站对专业发展起着重要作用。参与专业网站的动机是对自主性和能力的支持。对于平台设计者而言，至关重要的是增强对自治和能力的支持，以维持用户对专业网站的参与。

创意/价值

这项研究扩展了自决理论的范围，以了解参与专业网站的动机，这将对专业人士的ILPA产生影响。