of choice and personal initiative. The idea of managers' supporting
self-determination is conceptually and philosophically
consistent with participative management and vertical job enlargement,
although it differs from them by focusing on the interpersonal
orientation of managers rather than on the decisionmaking
process or the job design.
The variables in the organizational literature that are perhaps
closest to that of a manager's support for self-determination
have been systematized in Bowers and Seashore's (1966) theory
of leadership. These authors defined the management function
of support as managers' behaviors that enhance subordinates'
feelings of personal worth, and they aligned this concept to Halpin
and Winer's (1957) idea of consideration and Likert's ( 1961 )
principle of supportive relationships. Our concept of supporting
self-determination is also related to Bowers and Seashore's idea
of support, although it extends their idea by specifying the factors
that are likely to lead to subordinates' feelings of personal
worth. These factors, which comprise the concept of managers'
support for self-determination, have emerged from recent motivation
research; thus, elaboration of the point requires a brief
review of that motivation research.