How performance management shapes academic staff motivation and satisfaction: Insights from self-determination theory in Jordanian private universities

Abstract

Performance management (PM) has become a crucial HR function used by higher education institutions (HEIs) to assess academic staff’s performance, identify their training needs, and understand their satisfaction and motivation. While many universities use research measurement indicators to assess academic performance due to their influence on global rankings and reputations, other dimensions of academic performance, such as teaching and community services, are still scarce and underdeveloped and thus need further research. Furthermore, the existing literature lacks a strong theoretical perspective identifying the effects of different PM indicators on job motivation, satisfaction and well-being through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). Applying SDT, most of the literature identified the psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness and their positive consequences, satisfaction, motivation and well-being. However, the effects of PM indicators on needs frustration and the negative consequences remain limited and need further exploration. Hence, this study examines how PM indicators shape academic staff motivation, satisfaction and well-being via the satisfaction or frustration of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 30 academic staff members, including lecturers, senior lecturers, readers and professors, from three different private universities in Jordan. The findings demonstrate that research and teaching evaluation practices undermine both autonomy and competence by pressuring academics to prioritise publication quantity, conform to institutionally preferred research agendas, and restrict freedom in selecting meaningful research topics leading to controlled extrinsic motivation, anxiety, stress and work for contract renewals. By contrast, community engagement evaluation practices such as free lectures and voluntary works for public foster a sense of belonging, contribution and meaning, thereby supporting intrinsic motivation, an insight that expands SDT applications in HEIs. The study further advances SDT theory by revealing that PM in Jordanian private universities is shaped by cultural norms, hierarchical governance, and limited HR capacity, leading to systematic needs frustration.