Essay On Extrinsic Motivation

Have you ever wondered why we do the things we do? What motivates us to do a task well and what drives our behaviors? Psychologists believe that extrinsic and intrinsic motivation have a part in how we behave and why we do what we do. Let’s take a closer look at what extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is. Extrinsic motivation occurs when we are motivated to perform a behavior or engross in an activity to earn a reward or avoid punishment. Examples of behaviors that are the result of extrinsic motivation include studying because you want to get a good grade, cleaning your room to avoid getting in trouble with your parents, participating in a sport to win awards, or behaving for a teacher so you get treasure box on Fridays. In each of these examples, the behavior is motivated by a desire to gain a reward or avoid punishment. Intrinsic motivation involves doing something because it is personally rewarding, basically performing an activity for its own sake rather than the desire for some external reward. Some examples of actions that are the effect of intrinsic motivation include participating in a sport because you find the activity enjoyable, playing a game because you find it exciting, or studying to get good grades because you feel proud of yourself. In each of these examples, the person’s behavior is motivated by an internal
Some studies have demonstrated that giving a child an extrinsic reward for playing with a toy they already wanted to play with reduced their intrinsic motivation to play with that toy. This is called over-justification effect. However, extrinsic rewards can work in certain situations like encouraging interest in doing an activity that a person had no interest in doing, motivating people to acquire new skills, and can be a source for feedback showing that the person’s work is worthy of