The Effects of Extrinsic Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation

Abstract

What effects do external rewards have on intrinsic motivation? People describe the types of motivations differently. When asked, what motivates you? People tend to name some things that motivate them intrinsically and some extrinsically; everyone has different meanings for each and therefore different answers to the inquiry. There is a wealth of research on the subject of motivation. The research distinguishes between the two aspects of motivation. Generally, the research delineates intrinsic motivation as the motivational behavior that stems from within the individual while performing a task rather than the motivation that comes from various external rewards (i.e. extrinsic motivation). As a consequence, this paper will focus on conducting a literature review, in the form of introducing previously established theories, to discover what others are reporting about the issue of external rewards and their effects on intrinsic motivation.