Table 3.

Descriptive statistics by item and construct (N = 311).

Item	M	SD	% Agree+	Rank
Intrinsic motivation (α = 0.84; M = 3.90)
Sense of accomplishment from tasks	4.14	0.65	83.3%	1
Opportunities to learn new skills	3.92	0.71	77.8%	2
Work aligned with personal values	3.89	0.74	75.0%	3
Personal growth opportunities	3.72	0.82	66.7%	4
Extrinsic motivation (α = 0.87; M = 4.11)
Supervisor recognition increases productivity	4.25	0.74	86.1%	1
Benefits and compensation maintain motivation	4.17	0.68	83.3%	2
Promotion opportunities increase effort	4.03	0.77	77.8%	3
Job security motivates performance	4.00	0.81	75.0%	4
Supervisory practices – mediator (α = 0.81; M = 3.58)
Supervisor provides timely performance feedback	3.67	0.74	68.2%	1
Supervisor recognises employee contributions	3.61	0.77	65.9%	2
Job satisfaction (α = 0.83; M = 3.46)
Overall satisfied with current job	3.53	0.79	62.1%	2
Balance between effort and reward†	3.22	0.89	48.6%	4

† = Effort–reward balance item; operationalised as a standalone single-item equity indicator for the H4 test (Adams’ Equity Theory), excluded from the three-item Job Satisfaction composite. It records the lowest mean across all items (M = 3.22), indicating that on average participants perceived the greatest degree of inequity on this item relative to all other items, consistent with H4. Representative items are shown; the Job Satisfaction section displays one of the three composite items (the other two composite items—including satisfaction with career progression opportunities—are omitted for space); the full item list is listed in Supplementary Appendix A. Ranks reflect position within the full construct item set; not all ranks are displayed for abbreviated constructs. The effort–reward balance item (Rank 4) ranks 4th out of all four MSQ-SF items originally included in the Job Satisfaction section (including the three composite items plus this standalone indicator); its rank among composite items only is not applicable as it was excluded from the composite prior to analysis.