Scientific Research Conformity of University Teachers: Role of Incentives and Internal Attribution

Background: Conformity is a process by which a person changes his original idea and attitude in response to group pressure and chooses to be consistent with the majority. The study was undertaken to explore university teachers’ scientific research conformity (SRC), the psychological process of information processing and the types of internal attribution in SRC, and the relationship between SRC incentives and types of internal attribution. Method: A survey of 349 teachers from seven universities was conducted. We employed the mixed-method approach; data was collected through in-depth interviews and were analyzed using AMOS. Results: In-depth interviews revealed that the basic principle of human organizational behavior is conformity with incentive, and conformity is a motivational behavior produced through psychological processing of social information. Factor analysis results revealed that teachers’ SRC is characterized by abidance, compliance, and obedience. The internal incentives mainly affect abidance, and have a significant impact on obedience and compliance; the environmental incentives mainly affect abidance, and have a significant impact on obedience. Family and social relationship incentives mainly affect compliance, but social relationship incentives also have a significant impact on obedience. Additionally, policy incentives have a highly significant impact on obedience. Conclusions: This study provides first-hand empirical data for studies pertaining to research motivation and SRC behavior of Chinese university teachers. It also provides a theoretical basis for subsequent research on conformity behavior.