The many theoretical and empirical studies of work motivation to date have not fully clarified how it develops and evolves over time. We therefore investigated profiles of employees to identify their self-determination trajectories, and we examined differences among these profiles with respect to diverse predictors and outcomes. We gathered data (at 0, 6, 12, and 24 months over a two-year period) from a sample of 660 nurses employed in public health care establishments. Longitudinal growth mixture analyses (GMA) revealed three distinct trajectory profiles, characterized by Increasing, Slightly Decreasing, and Decreasing global levels of self-determination at work. Importantly, when employees perceived supervisors' transformational leadership behaviors and task-level socialization more positively, they were more likely to belong to the Increasing profile. Moreover, higher levels of affective commitment to the occupation and the organization and lower levels of intentions to leave the occupation and the organization were also associated with the Increasing profile.

迄今为止，许多关于工作动机的理论和实证研究尚未完全阐明其随着时间的发展和演变。因此，我们调查了员工的个人资料，以确定他们的自决轨迹，并检查了这些个人资料之间在各种预测因素和结果方面的差异。我们从在公共卫生机构雇用的660名护士的样本中收集了数据（在两年中的0、6、12和24个月）。纵向生长混合物分析（GMA）显示了三个不同的轨迹曲线，其特征是工作中的自决水平提高，略有降低和降低。重要的是，当员工更积极地认识到主管的变革型领导行为和任务级社交活动时，他们更有可能属于“不断增加的个人资料”。此外，对职业和组织的情感承诺水平较高，离开职业和组织的意图水平较低，也与个人形象的提高有关。