Theories
According to self-perception theory, a person infers causes about his or her own behavior based on external constraints. The presence of a strong constraint (such as a reward) would lead a person to conclude that he or she is performing the behavior solely for the reward, which shifts the person's motivation from intrinsic to extrinsic.
Cognitive evaluation theory proposes that tangible rewards (like money) are perceived as controlling or coercive. They remove the feeling of self-determination and thus decrease intrinsic motivation. If rewards are unexpected, then the feeling of self-determination is preserved and there is no effect on motivation. On the other hand, informational rewards (like praise) can increase intrinsic motivation by creating a feeling of mastery and self-determination. As a sub-theory of self-determination theory, cognitive evaluation theory explains that intrinsic motivation is maintained or increased when perceived autonomy is preserved or enhanced by rewards or feedback.
The introduction of extrinsic rewards can change the framing of a given task, shifting the motivation from intrinsic to extrinsic. Similar to how Tom Sawyer convinced his friends to whitewash a fence for him by describing the task as a privilege, individuals change their motivations for a task depending on how that task is framed, which is determined by the incentives present. When previously the incentive was only to enjoy the task itself (akin to play), introducing a financial incentive causes the task's participants to shift to a different frame of mind in which they perceive that they are performing the task in order to receive the financial reward instead (akin to work). The market in which such exchanges take place can therefore influence motivations. Moving to a monetary market generally reduces intrinsic motivation.
Read more about this topic: Overjustification Effect
Famous quotes containing the word theories:
“Philosophers of science constantly discuss theories and representation of reality, but say almost nothing about experiment, technology, or the use of knowledge to alter the world. This is odd, because ‘experimental method’ used to be just another name for scientific method.... I hope [to] initiate a Back-to-Bacon movement, in which we attend more seriously to experimental science. Experimentation has a life of its own.”
—Ian Hacking (b. 1936)
“Whatever practical people may say, this world is, after all, absolutely governed by ideas, and very often by the wildest and most hypothetical ideas. It is a matter of the very greatest importance that our theories of things that seem a long way apart from our daily lives, should be as far as possible true, and as far as possible removed from error.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“In the course of a life devoted less to living than to reading, I have verified many times that literary intentions and theories are nothing more than stimuli and that the final work usually ignores or even contradicts them.”
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)