Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations

Chapter 5

Outline

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations

External Regulation of Motivation

Hidden Costs of Rewards

Cognitive Evaluation Theory

Types of Extrinsic Motivation

Motivating Others To Do Uninteresting Activities

Building Interest

IncentivesConsequencesRewards

External RegulationIntrojected RegulationIdentified RegulationIntegrated Regulation

Intrinsic Motivation

The inherent desire to engage one’s interests and to exercise and develop one’s capacities.

“I am doing this because it is ….” type of motivation

engaged activity interesting, fun, enjoyable, Satisfying psychological needs(i.e., autonomy, competence, relatedness)

Intrinsic Motivation

PsychologicalNeed Satisfaction

Autonomy Competence Relatedness

Autonomy Supportfrom the

Environment andOne’s

Relationships

Competence Supportfrom the

Environment andOne’s

Relationships

Relatedness Supportfrom the

Environment andOne’s

Relationships

Origins of Intrinsic Motivation

Benefits of Intrinsic Motivation

Persistence

Creativity

Conceptual Understanding/High-Quality Learning

Optimal Functioning & Well-Being

The higher a person’s intrinsic motivation, the greater will be his or her persistence on that task.

The greater people experience interest, enjoyment, satisfaction, and challenge of the work itself, the higher people being creative.

Flexible thinking, Active information processing,Learning in conceptual way…

Greater self-actualization,Greater subjective vitality,Less anxiety and depression,Greater self-esteem….

Extrinsic Motivation

An environmentally created reason (e.g., incentives or consequences) to engage in an action or activity.

“Do this in order to get that” type of motivation

requested behavior extrinsic incentive or consequence

“What’s in it for me?” type of motivation

External Regulation of Motivation:Incentives, Consequences, & Rewards

Incentives Consequences Rewards

1. Positive ReinforcersVs.

Negative Reinforcers

2. Punishers

An environmental event that attractsor repels a persontoward or awayfrom initiating

a particular courseof action.

(e.g., S: R)

Any offering from one person given toanother person in

exchange for his or herservice or achievement.

Figure 5.2 Effect of Reinforcement on use of Orthodontic Device

Managing Behavior by Offering Reinforcers

Rewards

How Rewards Work—Do They Facilitate Desirable Behavior?

An extrinsic reward enlivens positive emotion and facilitates behavior because it signals the opportunity for a personal gain.

When events take an unexpected turn for the better, then dopamine release and BAS neural activation occur, as the brain inherently latches onto the environmental signal of the unexpected gain.

the unexpected, unintended, and adverse effects that extrinsic rewards sometimes have on intrinsic motivation, high-quality learning, and autonomous self-regulation.

Using A Reward To Engage Someone In An Activity

Intended Primary Effect

Promotes Compliance (Behavioral Engagement in the Activity)

Unintended Primary Effect

Undermines Intrinsic Motivation

Interferes with the Quality and

Process of Learning

Interferes with the Capacity for Autonomous Self-Regulation

Figure 5.5Hidden Cost of Rewards:

Do Punishers Work?Do They Suppress Undesirable Behavior?

Research shows that punishment is an ineffective motivational strategy (popular but ineffective nonetheless)

“side effects”

Negative Emotionality

(e.g.), • crying,

• screaming, • feeling afraid

Impaired relationship

between punisher and punishee.

Negative modeling

of how to cope with undesirable behavior in

others.

Immediate and Long-Term Consequences of Corporal Punishment (Spanking)

Figure 5. 4

A purnisher is any

environmental stimulus that,

when presented,

decreases the future

probability of the undesired behavior

Benefits of Incentives, Consequences, and Rewards

When there is no intrinsic motivation to be undermined (uninteresting tasks), rewards can make an otherwise uninteresting task seem suddenly worth pursuing.

Improving children’s

reading fluency

Participating in recycling

Preventing drunk driving

Getting motorists to stop at stop

signs

Preventing Undesirable

behaviors such as biting

Increasing older adults’

participating in physical activity

Extrinsic motivators still undermine the quality of performance and interfere with the process of learning.

Using rewards distracts attention away from asking the hard question of why another person is being asked to do an uninteresting task in the first place.

There are better ways to encourage participation than extrinsic bribery.

Extrinsic motivators still undermine the individual’s long-term capacity for autonomous self-regulation.

Four Reasons Not to Use Extrinsic Motivation (even for uninteresting endeavors)

Cognitive evaluation theory provides a way for predicting the effects that any extrinsic event will have on motivation.

The theory explains how an extrinsic event (e.g., money, grade, deadline) affects intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, as mediated by the event’s effect on the psychological needs for competence and autonomy.

Cognitive Evaluation Theory

All external events have two functions:

Control behavior inform competence

Which functions more salient determines how the external event will affect intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Table 5.1 Cognitive Evaluation Theory

Any External Event (Rewards)

“If you do X,then you get Y.”

“Because you were able to do X,

that means you are effective,

competent.”

Controlling Function Informational Function

1. Decreases intrinsic motivation2. Interferes with quality of learning.3. External regulation increases;

Self-regulation undermined

1. Increases intrinsic motivation2. Enhances high-quality learning.3. Enhances self-regulation.

Types of Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic Motivation

ExternalRegulation

IntrojectedRegulation

IdentifiedRegulation

IntegratedRegulation

Self-determination theory posits that different types of motivation can be organizedalong a continuum of self-determination or perceived locus of causality.

Four Types of Extrinsic Motivation, Illustrated by Different Reasons of “Why I Recycle”

Table 5.2

Self-Determination Continuum Showing Types of Motivation

Figure 5.6

Motivating Others To Do Uninteresting Activities

Ways to Promote More Autonomous Types of Extrinsic Motivation

Providing a Rationale

to explain why the uninteresting activity is

important and useful enough to warrant one’s volitional engagement

Building Interest

Involves first catching one’s situational interest in an

activity and then holding that initial interest over time by

developing an individual interest in the activity.

e.g.,

Explanatory rationales enhance effortby cultivation an identified regulation

Figure 5.7

Building interest in a particular domain

Figure 5.8

Characteristics of the Environment

Object and activitiesthat are novel,surprising, need-satisfying, and relevant to one’s goals.

Characteristics of the person

Object and activitiesThat are novel,surprising, need-satisfying, and relevant to one’s goals.

ActualizedExperience of

Interest

Increased:• Attention• Learning• Knowledge• Achievement

Builds Situational Interest

Builds Individual Interest

End of Chapter 5