Doing What You Love, But at What Cost Insights from Prof. Mijeong Kwon

We are delighted to welcome Prof. Mijeong Kwon, Assistant Professor of Management at the Denver Business School, University of Colorado Denver. In this episode, Prof. Mijeong Kwon will be sharing valuable insights from her research, “Moral Burdens at Work: The Dilemma of Doing What You Love.” For over 50 years, business research and education have highlighted the positive impact of intrinsic motivation. The idea of loving your work has become ubiquitous, appearing in everything from inspiring graduation speeches to the tweets of prominent CEOs. Dr. Mijeong Kwon's research delves into whether this widespread valuation of intrinsic motivation might have an unintended dark side for employees' value judgments about themselves and others. In her work, Dr. Kwon argues that when intrinsic motivation is valued in employees' social contexts, it becomes associated with positive values and is moralized. Once moralized, intrinsic motivation transforms into a source of value judgments. Through field surveys and a mix of online and lab experiments, Dr. Kwon explores how the moralization of intrinsic motivation can lead to potentially negative impacts on employees' perceptions and behaviors in the workplace. Her areas of expertise include Motivation, Morality, and Ethics. She was awarded the 2021 LKS Fellow at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University. Prof. Kwon earned her PhD in Management & Organizations from the University of Michigan and her MS in Management from Yonsei University, Korea. This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com. Disclaimer: A. The background music used in this video is the property of its respective developer and is protected by Copyright. Although it is a free version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy and Deepak Bhatt do not hold the rights to this music. B. Prof. Mijeong Kwon has generously shared profound insights from her research topic, “Moral Burdens at Work: The Dilemma of Doing What You Love,” during her appearance on the Business Talk Podcast Channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted material; therefore, any modifications to graphics, music, or the presence of the author or host are strictly prohibited. All content is copyrighted © 2025.