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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: The Search for Optimal Motivation and Performance (Educational Psychology)

Carol Sansone, Judith M. Harackiewicz · 1 HN comments
HN Books has aggregated all Hacker News stories and comments that mention "Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: The Search for Optimal Motivation and Performance (Educational Psychology)" by Carol Sansone, Judith M. Harackiewicz.
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Amazon Summary
In understanding human behavior, psychologists have long been interested in what motivates specific actions. Debates have pitted extrinsic motivators (e.g. rewards/punishment) against intrinsic motivation in attempting to determine what best motivates individuals. This book provides a summary view of what research has determined about both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and clarifies what questions remain unanswered. Divided into three sections, section I revisits the debate about the effects of extrinsic incentives or constraints on intrinsic motivation and creativity, and identifies theoretical advances in motivational research. Section II focuses on the hidden costs and benefits of different types of achievement goals on motivation and performance. Section III discusses theory and research findings on how extrinsic and intrinsic motivators may work in everyday life and over time. This book is of interest to researchers in psychology, education, and business, as well as to a wider audience interested in promoting optimal motivation and performance. Coverage in this book includes: * Debates and controversies in motivational research * Developmental nature of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation over time * Influences of parents, educators, and employers in facilitating motivation * Effect of achievement goals on learning and performance * The role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in self-regulation
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It seems I have to qualify "recent", this was already studied in the 70's [1]. But recent material is available as well [2],[3],[4],[6]. [3] provides a view from an economists perspective (incentives), [6] looks at motivation of employees and compares to performance and well-being outcomes. The psychological question is about intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, and has been studied for a long time now, for an overview, see [5] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation

1. "The Effects of Contingent and Noncontingent Rewards and Controls on Intrinsic Motivation", 1972, Edward L.Deci, [Available online] http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/1972_Deci_O...

2. Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn, 1999, https://www.alfiekohn.org/punished-rewards/

3. "Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation ", Roland BĂ©nabou & Jean Tirole, 2003, https://academic.oup.com/restud/article-abstract/70/3/489/15...

4. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation - The Search for Optimal Motivation and Performance, Carol Sansone & Judith Harackiewicz, 2000 https://www.amazon.com/Intrinsic-Extrinsic-Motivation-Perfor...

5. "Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation", Lisa Legault, 2016, [Available online] http://www.lcwu.edu.pk/ocd/cfiles/Professional%20Studies/FC/...

6. "Do intrinsic and extrinsic motivation relate differently to employee outcomes?", Kuvaas et al., 2017, [Available online] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bard_Kuvaas/publication...

EDIT: added more recent sources

buran77
But you're ignoring the "demotivating" factors. Getting a pay bump might not be a (good) motivator in itself but it may remove a demotivator. So sometime these moves are to release the handbrake rather than make the engine more powerful.
tovej
That's correct, that's why I said financial motivators don't matter _after_ you already have a comfortable life (your needs are satisfied). [1] and [6] both argue that rewards that aren't conditioned on performance (e.g. salary) don't detract from intrinsic motivation and that a competitive salary is a good motivator.
buran77
> financial motivators don't matter _after_ you already have a comfortable life

Oh, this is a slightly different topic. Of course if your belly is growling money will motivate you a lot, and that motivation tends to go down the more you go past your comfort baseline.

But think of pay disparity for example. Maybe your belly is full but your slacker colleague is making more money than you. That has a good chance of demotivating you, making you ask "why should I try harder?". Reducing this disparity and (perceived) inequity, eliminating the demotivating factor, goes a long way and has a far longer lasting effect than just the same extra money would bring otherwise.

tovej
I totally agree, salaries aren't bad, bonuses are.

And pay disparity can be a problem, especially if salary data is hidden. I think most of the time the problem is a lack of openness about salaries and why they are as they are.

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