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Purpose: The psychological capital and the self-determination theory are areas related to the research of human behavior in organizationsThis study had as objective to verify if there are relations between the categories of Motivation with the dimensions of Psychological Capital. Design/methodology/approach: it was performed a quantitative empirical study. The sample consisted of 235 workers working in the health sector, in south of Brazil. Data collection was obtained through the application of PCQ-24 and MWMS.

Findings: There is a negative correlation between psychological capital and demotivation as well as a positive correlation between psychological capital and intrinsic motivation. It was observed that the higher level of psycap more the results approached the intrinsic motivation. The results suggest that care professionals have higher levels of motivation for work and psycap than those in administrative area. Likewise, people with a complete undergraduate level had high levels of Motivation and Psychological Capital. In sum, the results suggest that Psycap is an important contribution to motivation at work. Research limitations/implications: This empirical research was performed only with a sample of health workers from Brazil. For this reason the results can not be generalized. Practical Implications: It is possible to verify the level of Motivation and Psychological Capital of the workers, being able to develop strategies to develop skills that promote better organizational performance.

Originality/value: It has conducted a research with two instruments still little used in the Brazilian context-PCQ-24 and MWMS-relating these two approaches …